Amid rising human-animal conflicts, Tripura plans trenches and natural defence on elephant corridors

Speaking to reporters, Debbarma said, “People in these areas have been suffering from human-animal conflict for the last 30 years or so. It is a big headache for the forest department. We held a ‘manthan’ (meeting) involving the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), District Forest Officers (DFO), Sub-Divisional Forest Officers (SDFO) etc and decided to take a series of steps to stop elephant attacks on fields, human habitations etc including cutting elephant-proof trenches in vulnerable stretches adjacent to human habitations and agricultural fields along forest boundaries”.

Debbarma said while the initial steps would be started with government funds, forest divisions in Khowai and Gomati districts, which are by far the worst affected areas, will prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and seek funds from the Centre.

Debbarma said his department has taken the cue from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where trenches are dug out along elephant corridors to prevent attacks on habitations and agricultural fields. “To prevent elephant depredation of crops and damage of houses, live fences made of plants like thorny bamboo or ‘kanta bans’, agave, cactus, lemon, ginger etc which are known to be disliked by the tuskers, would also be planted along vulnerable stretches of human settlements adjoining forest areas,” he added.

Asked how the government would provide alternate corridors for the elephants when their existing routes would be cut off in areas close to human habitations, the forest minister said, “If we check the (affected) areas on Google Maps, we can see that the elephants are stuck in an area near Teliamura. We have to provide passage since they can’t cross the carpeted National Highway since it was built in the vicinity. So, we have decided to build underpasses in three places in the area to allow elephants to pass and allow them to move towards the Atharomura reserve forest area”.

He also said he would speak with Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, PWD officials and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) to ensure similar underpasses are included in the project proposals for National Highway expansion near Chakmaghat and Mungiakami.

Continued human-animal conflicts

On April 8 this year, the octogenarian was killed in a wild elephant attack in the Maharani area in Teliamura of Khowai district, where a herd destroyed a few mudhouses in sudden attacks in January. A herd also attacked a mudhouse with a family inside the day shortly before the octogenarian was killed, and another attack was reported from Chakmaghat in the same district where the animals damaged a house and other belongings.

The April attack came two months after Chandni Chandran, District Magistrate, Khowai, said Moti, a wild rogue elephant in the area, was involved in some of the attacks and the tusker would be radio-collared, allowing tracking all information of its movement within every 30 minutes.

According to residents, at least 26-27 small and serious attacks of wild elephants occurred in Khowai in the last year and the human-animal conflicts continued despite assurances from Debbarma who visited parts of the district that steps to curb human-animal conflict would be taken.

Before the latest decision, the Centre mooted a plan in 2015 to radio-collar elephants to track their movements and minimise conflict with humans. As part of setting up a natural defence mechanism for villagers, the Tripura Government also started a project for beekeeping in agricultural fields to thwart elephant attacks as jumbos are known to fear the stingy insects.

As per a report of the state Forest Department from a few years ago, Tripura has 102 elephants, including 42 wild elephants and 60 in captivity. A new elephant survey was undertaken in March 2015 but the reports couldn’t be finalised as the pandemic lockdown was imposed soon after.

Dwindling forest cover in Tripura

Speaking about damage to the environment and forests, Debbarma also said a large number of illegal sawmills and sand mining operations have cropped up in different parts of the state and said special squads were already built to combat these menaces.

“Forests are being indiscriminately damaged by illegal sawmill operators who identify themselves as being related to some bigwigs. A large number of buildings have been built in the last 8-10 years. Many illegal sand mining activities are being held to support these constructions. I am not against sawmills or sand mining but the law of the land has to be observed. All these illegal activities would be dealt with severely,” said the Tripura forest minister.

He also expressed anguish over the state of affairs of actual forest cover in Tripura and said though official figures say over 60 per cent of Tripura’s 10,486 sq. km geographical area, much of the forest has gone due to illegal felling of trees and saw mills etc.

“In my assessment, the forest area in Tripura has been destroyed by 50-60 per cent. If one were to go 0.5-1 km deep inside the forest leaving from the highways, most of the forest areas would not be found there. But we say proudly that the forest area is 60 per cent of the state’s area. Officially, there is 22 per cent forest all over the country. So, we are very much above the national average. In reality, the land is there but the forest is almost gone (in Tripura). How did it vanish? Who did it? I don’t have information to answer all these since I have been a forest minister for three months. But we have to undergo a massive effort of aforestation, protection and have to ensure that 60-62 per cent of land in the state is covered by forests,” he said.

As part of the massive afforestation drive, 5 lakh plants would be planted in 5 minutes across Tripura involving schools, colleges, paramilitary forces, NGOs, police, Indian Army, and all line departments as part of Vana Mahotsava this year.