The presence of over a 100 wild elephants in a single beat of Hosur forest division of Tamil Nadu, a few kilometres away from Kuppam mandal in Chittoor district, is giving the farmers sleepless nights. With the fully grown kharif crops ready for harvesting in the fields all around, the people in the border villages fear for their lives as well as crops.
The killing of an Intermediate girl, a farmer’s daughter, at Parthichenu village near Kuppam, while they were on a night vigil by two stray elephants from T.N. forests a few days ago has only worsened their fears.
After a hiatus of several months, the man-animal conflict has returned to the Kuppam division, which is flanked by the forests of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Though the menace of crop-raiding elephants from the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary was brought under control with trenches and solar fencing works in Palamaner and parts of Kuppam range, a stretch of about eight kilometres on the Kuppam-T.N. border is left uncovered, exposing it to the herds of wild elephants.
Vulnerable stretch
Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West) S. Ravi Shankar, who inspected the border villages, said that an eight km stretch remained completely open to the entry of wild elephants. “Our immediate priority is to prevent both human and crop loss in this region. However, the border delineation itself poses a problem and prevents us from taking prompt action. Tracts of revenue lands of our area are abutting the forests of Tamil Nadu,” he said.
The activities related to harvest of tamarind from the forests drove the wild elephants towards Kuppam side, said the officer. “The open stretch on the border is highly vulnerable to jumbo raids,” he remarked.
Appeal to T.N. officials
The DFO said that apart from renewing appeals to the T.N. counterparts to consider having elephant-proof trenches on the border at their end, higher authorities here would also be urged to dig trenches on the revenue land in Chittoor district.
He said one of the wild elephants, believed to be responsible for the killing of the girl, was spotted moving in the T.N. forests close to Parthichenu village.
“We also have information about the concentration of one hundred elephants in Hosur division of T.N. The farmers on our side have been cautioned against night vigils in fields, and our field personnel have been put on high alert,” Mr. Ravi Shankar said.