ITANAGAR, Dec 12: Chief Minister Pema Khandu has expressed grief over the demise of retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Walle Bymdon Bathew, who had served in Arunachal Pradesh (then NEFA) for two decades.
Bathew breathed his last on 10 December at his native place Shillong, leaving behind his wife, two sons and a daughter.
‘In his demise an era of unflinching and sincere efforts in conservation of forests and wildlife that the North-East, particularly Arunachal Pradesh, boasts of, has ended. Arunachal Pradesh has lost a true friend and its people will remain ever grateful for his selfless services,’ the CM said in his condolence message to the deceased’s wife, RM Bathew Kharbuli, on Tuesday.
Bathew, one of the earliest IFS officers, was posted in the then North Eastern Frontier Tract, and was instrumental in setting up important wildlife conservation infrastructures across the state.
Due to his relentless zeal to save and preserve nature, the now famous Namdapha Wildlife Sanctuary came into existence.
