Ways to mitigate man-elephant conflict discussed

A Correspondent

NAGAON, June 24: In an interaction programme with the journalists of Nagaon district held recently at the Divisional Forest Office, DFO of Nagaon, Suvasish Das said that the conflict between man and elephant in Nagaon along with the entire State had surprisingly increased due to various reasons and in Nagaon total three persons had been killed as a consequence of that conflict in the current year and total 11 elephants had lost their lives last year. Herds of wild jumbos had demolished houses and also destroyed hundreds of hectares of crops in various places of the district in the last couple of years. It has become a major concern for the people of the district, he added.

Asking for suggestions from the journalists of the district for solution to the problem, Das also said that the department concerned had already constructed power fencing along 8 km at Silghat, 7 km at Kathiatoli and 7 km at Kandali with financial aid of WWF to prevent the entry of wild jumbos into crowded areas of the district.

In the interaction programme, the journalists of the district urged the government as well as the departmental head to protect the hills first and stop deforestation, especially in hills like Karbi-Anglong, and also to protect the elephant corridor of the district. They said that in Karbi-Anglong the government had started to issue land pattas in various hills to the people of the district. They warned that if this continued, the conflict between man and elephant would grow and a day would come when there would be no solution to the issue.

In the programme, it was also ascertained by the experts that the elephants were not coming out only in the quest of food, rather elephants were coming out of the forests for some other reasons as well. Hence to solve this burning problem, public awareness among the villagers, especially in forest line areas, was a must, the experts added.