Forest department clears elephant proof trenches to prevent man-animal conflict

COIMBATORE: With summer setting in, increasing the possibility of elephants coming out of forest into human habitations in search of fodder and water, the forest department has started clearing elephant proof trenches in the district.
The forest department has completed desilting of trenches and removal of bushes along forest boundary in Madukkarai, P N Palayam and Thadagam areas under Project Kaliru, an initiative to mitigate human-elephant conflict. “Trenches in other places will be cleared by March end,’’ said district forest officer N Satheesh.

Elephant proof trenches (EPT) have been dug for a cumulative length of 153km in seven forest ranges of the district to ensure that elephants from the forests do not enter human habitations and agricultural land adjoining the jungles. Over a period, especially during the monsoon, silt would deposit in these trenches decreasing their depth. Shrubs would also grow in these trenches requiring periodical clearance. Villagers living along the forest boundary have welcomed the desilting of trenches. Since most of these villages have farmlands, there were several instances of elephants entering the farm and damaging the crops during summer.

According to forest officials, 50km of EPT would be cleared this year. Conservator of forests, Coimbatre circle, S Ramasubramanian, said Rs 30,000 was alloted for maintainance each kilometre of EPT.

Forest officials said that EPTs have been dug in most of the spots identified as prone to elephant movement. The forest department has planned to set up thermal imaging cameras in a few more places where elephant movement is high. The surveillance cameras would help monitor the movement of elephants and alert villagers to stay away from them.

In addition, the forest department is taking efforts to ensure that the elephants as well as other animals have enough water sources inside the jungle. As many as 80 troughs have been renovated along forest boundary and water is being regularly filled to satiate the animals so that they do not step into villages, said a forest official.