No respite from wild elephant attack

There seems to be no respite from wild elephant attack  in the frontier Garo Hills despite efforts to prevent the crossing of wild elephants from India.  The failure to keep the animals at bay is attributed to flawed policies and projects. In the past few years, at least a dozen meetings
have been held on ‘Human-Elephant Conflict’ at the deputy commissioner’s office in the district’s Sadar upazila. Various projects, such as the creation of plantations, installation of solar panels, use of chilli powder as deterrent, bee cultivation, cane production, plum plantation and protection shelters have been adopted, but the menace still persists. A total of 25,000 trees of 18 species, known to be food for elephants, have been planted on 100 acres in the frontier area. About 18,000 trees have already been planted in the hilly area of Shreebardi upazila.
Solar panels have been set up to deliver electric shock to intruding elephants on a three-km stretch in the Garo Hills of the district, said Abdul Wahab Akanda, principal investigator of the Human Economic Development Society (HEDS).
He also said a stretch of 60–70 km in Garo Hills border areas had been surveyed and locals advised to collect data on the nature of the wild elephants, their movements, location of herds, and the possible reasons of attack.
The frontier people had also been told to spread jute fibre and use chilli powder to drive away elephants. Moreover, there have been initiatives to introduce bee cultivation, cane cultivation and planting of thorny trees to curb elephant incursions.
Besides, the building of security shelters against elephant attacks has been proposed.
A three-day workshop on ‘wild animals’ was also held in June, 2009, in which wildlife experts from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka had taken part. They had urged the local people to maintain the ecological balance to ease the conflict.
 More recently, the HEDS and the forest department jointly organised a discussion on wild elephants.
Sources say 70–100 wild elephants frequently come from India, causing damage and loss of life.
 Statistics show at least 200 people have been
killed in elephant attacks and thousands injured in the last 20 years. Every year, large tracts of cultivable land and cash crops are destroyed, district agriculture office sources said.
At least 50,000 people in 30 villages currently live in fear of elephant attacks in the Nalitabari, Jinaigati, Shreebordy, and the district’s three frontier Upazilas. They often move to safer places leaving their homes and property behind. Consequently, many farmers have become day labourers.  The government, of course, has announced compensation for losses caused by wild elephants. The compensation in the event of death is Tk. 1,00,000, Tk. 50,000 for injury, and Tk. 25,000 for the damage of house and property.  However, greater public co-operation, awareness, publicity and training are needed to deal with the problem, especially when the projects adopted so far appear to have failed to keep the elephants away.

No respite from wild elephant attack

There seems to be no respite from wild elephant attack in the frontier Garo Hills despite efforts to prevent the crossing of wild elephants from India. The failure to keep the animals at bay is attributed to flawed policies and projects. In the past few years, at least a dozen meetings have been held on Human-Elephant Conflict at the deputy commissioners office in the districts Sadar upazila. Various projects, such as the creation of plantations, installation of solar panels, use of chilli powder as deterrent, bee cultivation, cane production, plum plantation and protection shelters have been adopted, but the menace still persists. A total of 25,000 trees of 18 species, known to be food for elephants, have been planted on 100 acres in the frontier area. About 18,000 trees have already been planted in the hilly area of Shreebardi upazila. Solar panels have been set up to deliver electric shock to intruding elephants on a three-km stretch in the Garo Hills of the district, said Abdul Wahab Akanda, principal investigator of the Human Economic Development Society (HEDS). He also said a stretch of 6070 km in Garo Hills border areas had been surveyed and locals advised to collect data on the nature of the wild elephants, their movements, location of herds, and the possible reasons of attack. The frontier people had also been told to spread jute fibre and use chilli powder to drive away elephants. Moreover, there have been initiatives to introduce bee cultivation, cane cultivation and planting of thorny trees to curb elephant incursions. Besides, the building of security shelters against elephant attacks has been proposed. A three-day workshop on wild animals was also held in June, 2009, in which wildlife experts from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka had taken part. They had urged the local people to maintain the ecological balance to ease the conflict. More recently, the HEDS and the forest department jointly organised a discussion on wild elephants. Sources say 70100 wild elephants frequently come from India, causing damage and loss of life. Statistics show at least 200 people have been killed in elephant attacks and thousands injured in the last 20 years. Every year, large tracts of cultivable land and cash crops are destroyed, district agriculture office sources said. At least 50,000 people in 30 villages currently live in fear of elephant attacks in the Nalitabari, Jinaigati, Shreebordy, and the districts three frontier Upazilas. They often move to safer places leaving their homes and property behind. Consequently, many farmers have become day labourers. The government, of course, has announced compensation for losses caused by wild elephants. The compensation in the event of death is Tk. 1,00,000, Tk. 50,000 for injury, and Tk. 25,000 for the damage of house and property. However, greater public co-operation, awareness, publicity and training are needed to deal with the problem, especially when the projects adopted so far appear to have failed to keep the elephants away.