SHILLONG: Walle Bymdon Bathew, retired IFS(Retd), resident of Madan Laban passed away on December 10 . He was 91. He belonged to one of the earliest batches of the Indian Forest Service. Late Bathew passed out in 1948 after the training in the Forest Training College, Dehradun.
Thereafter, he opted for the Union Territory Cadre. He was posted in N.E.F.A (Now Arunachal Pradesh) for almost two decades and was instrumental in setting up important wildlife conservation infrastructure there.
He surveyed and demarcated the boundaries of the famous Nam-dapha sanctuary. In the early sixties, he trekked for three weeks from Tezpur to Tawang along with an Assam Rifles contingent to assess the forest and wildlife resources in those areas. In 1982, he was transferred to Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the Chief Conservator of Forests and after a tenure of almost two years he was posted in the same capacity in Mizoram.
He retired in 1984 after completion of 36 years in service. He leaves behind his wife, Rose Millian Bathew Kharbuli, former Chairperson, UPSC, two sons and a daughter.
