The annual migration of wild elephants from Bandipur and Nagarahole to Kabini backwaters that commences with the onset of summer could be delayed by a few weeks this year.
This is because parts of Bandipur and Nagarahole received rains as late as November last year which has helped augment the availability of water in both the national parks.
Forest officials say the herd movement had not yet begun this season and attributed it to the availability of fodder and water in the jungles.
However, officials and wildlife activists claim the summer heat would dry up the water sources and deplete the fodder availability, which could trigger the annual migration within the next few weeks.
There are upto140 waterholes in Nagarahole and 370 in Bandipur, besides a few streams.
T. Balachandra, Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, said that the delay in migration could not be more than two weeks at the most.
“This is because the searing heat is already building up in Bandipur and, out of the 370 waterholes, only 220 of them have water. Each passing day, the waterholes will dry up forcing the elephants to migrate,” he added.
What is equally significant is that the live storage in the Kabini reservoir as on Wednesday was 12.24 tmcft. There is a vast quantity of water in areas, where elephant herds could otherwise be spotted.
The Kabini backwaters holds a special attraction for the elephants as they converge there for the plentiful grass that sprouts up, when water depletes from the reservoir. But the Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) for Kabini is yet to discharge water from the reservoir to the downstream region.
Meanwhile, farmers in the downstream area of Kabini reservoir are up in arms against the authorities for delaying the water discharge to help them save the standing crops. There was a meeting of farmers in T. Narsipur recently where it has been resolved to lay siege to Cauvery Neeravari Nigama Ltd. and Command Area Development Authority offices in Mysuru if there was no water discharge from the reservoir by February 18, said Atahalli Devaraj of Karnataka Sugarcane Cultivators’ Association.
In the event of the discharge of water commencing by February 18 or 20, as demanded by the farmers, the backwaters will slowly dry up and the depletion will help the sprouting of grass and trigger elephant migration by the second week of March. It is expected to peak during late March and early April and the elephants will remain there till the monsoon showers lash the region, according to the officials.
The Kabini backwater hosts the single largest concentration of wild elephants in Asia during summer and is a paradise for wildlife.
The backwater forms the boundary of both Bandipur and Nagarahole which together has about 2,900 to 3,000 elephants some of which congregate here during summer.