Solar-powered watering holes for wild animals
With mercury levels rising, Telangana Forest officials are taking precautionary measures to avoid any inconvenience to wildlife. They are working out ways to ensure that no animal or bird has to go without water even on the hottest day.
Forest officials have installed solar-powered drinking water facilities in Shamshabad Division, Kawal Tiger Reserve, Amrabad Tiger Reserves and all other forest areas in the state. They have also constructed new water troughs and replenished existing ones inside forest areas to prevent wildlife from leaving their habitat in search of water.
The replenishing is being done to avoid animal-human conflicts, poaching and accidents that arise when animals leave their habitat in search of water when the forest area dries up. There are 60 solar-powered borewells in the entire state and this year forest officials are planning to get 60 more borewells in all the forest areas in the state.
A senior official from Telangana Forest Department said, “Every summer there is water shortage for animals in the forests. It begins in March and by May most water dries up. The shortage of water forces animals to leave their habitat in search of water. They often moves to nearby villages for water, which is very dangerous for them as man-animal conflicts can arise. This can cause human deaths as well as animal deaths and injuries.”
He added that work was on to ensure ample water in the forest to avoid these conflicts.
“Each borewell costs around `4 lakh but can augment water supply for wild animals. This method is very useful, doesn’t need any manual operation and is also very cost effective. This method doesn’t even need power and any cables; the machine starts automatically during sunrise and automatically stops working after sunset. Apart from these borewells, we have constructed huge water storage ponds to store enough drinking water for the animals,” the official added.