Govt takes steps to stop elephants from entering residential colonies
HARIDWAR: With a rise in temperature, intrusion of elephants in residential areas and agricultural fields near the Ganga and Rajaji Tiger Reserve has increased. Herds of jumbos are being reported almost on a daily basis on outskirts of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, Shyampur, Pathri, Kankhal, Jagjeetpur, Missirpur, Katarpur, Jeopata, Panjanhedi, Bishanpur Kundi, Chandpuri and Chila.
In search of water and food, jumbos are also ravaging the agriculture fields aggravating the woes of the farmers.
To counter the elephant movement near human settlements along the jungle terrain and Ganga, the forest department has upped the patrolling in the sensitive pockets. Along with this earmarking of villages and stretches is being done so that solar wall fencing can be erected at elephant sensitive human settlements.
“To rein in the movement and intrusion of elephants, patrolling has been increased to shoo away them as and when they get spotted. Solar fencing has also been successful at several stretches and new proposals are also being submitted so that maximum elephant affected areas get covered with solar fencing wall,” said forest range office Haridwar Dinesh Prasad Naudiyal.
“Elephants live in the nearby forest terrain and this area also is a passage for them to reach the nearby agricultural fields. Along with this Ganga Canal stream provides them water availability for drinking and bathing as well as an easy route to reach this area from the forest,” said Dr Gagan Matta, assistant professor of Gurukul Kangri University.
A 42-km long solar fencing has been installed across the district in wild elephant sensitive areas in the past few years bringing major relief to people affected by elephant intrusion.
Safety walls have been erected at various stretches which are quite vulnerable to wild animal intrusion.
There has been quite a sharp dip in wild animal intrusion cases into residential habitat since solar fencing and masonry wall has been erected in rural areas.
The Forest department is also looking into cultivating lemongrass in the sensitive elephant prone zone of the Haridwar forest division as elephants don’t like lemongrass and avoid the very passage circuit where this specie grows.
“Lemongrass smell acts as a deterrent to elephants which don’t like this odour and avoid visiting this grass cultivation zone. Jumbos love to feed on sugarcane, which in this season is easily accessible to them so their movement can be seen more in these crop grown village-forest corridors and to quench their water thirst too, “said Dr Gagan Matta, assistant professor dept of zoology, Gurukul Kangri University.
Elephants have been creating ruckus in many areas of Haridwar from time to time. In July 2020, an elephant entered Bilkeshwar Colony, just 1.5 km from Har-Ki-Pauri in Haridwar, created ruckus and damaged boundary walls and vehicles parked outside the houses. In April 2020, an elephant was spotted at Har-Ki-Pauri where he was seen taking a sip in sacred Ganga and splashing water on his body. In February last, a forest guard was killed by an elephant at Beriwada range while the patrolling team he was part of was on routine duty in Rajaji Tiger Reserve.