Coimbatore, Dec. 21
In a bid to stop wild elephants from entering brick kiln chambers, the Forest Department has decided to urge the Coimbatore District administration to ban the usage of palm wood in the brick kiln chambers in Thadagam region here.
Claiming that the smell of the pith of palm trees that is used as fuel wood in the chambers lures wild elephants that feed on them, District Forest Officer (DFO) N. Satheesh, in a meeting with the owners of the brick kiln chambers in Thadagam today, warned that actions would be taken against those who use palm pith post ban.
“We should understand that the palm pith used in kilns causes unnecessary encounters between man and elephants indirectly intensifying Human – Elephant Conflict (HEC),” he said.
Urging the chamber owners to help the department in reducing loss to human life and property because of elephants, the DFO requested them to give details about people who tease elephants. “The recent video is a typical example of what torture elephants suffer from some miscreants. Such people alter the behaviour of the animal from a docile being to a hostile animal. Animals that are tortured in such a way may direct their anger towards innocent people,” he added.
However, chamber owners denied that the persons involved in the video were related to chambers but were tourists. “We have been repeatedly seeing such people come from the towns and torture the animals. Even if we ask them not to, they would not listen,” said R.V.C. Natarajan, one of the owners.
He added that awareness posters should be put up in important junctions in Thadagam to make people aware of the actions that would be taken against the perpetrators.
It may be noted that a video of two youths taunting a female elephant went viral on social media. Though, officials claimed that the video was taken some years back, it also forced the initiation of an inquiry in the brick kilns.
Reacting to the complaint, the DFO said that they will seek the help of the District Police to patrol fringe villages and curb such miscreants.
In addition, the DFO also requested the owners of brick kilns to sensitise their labourers to behave carefully in elephant region. “Ask them not to sleep outside their houses during the migration period between October and January. Since most of the encounters happen largely during early morning or evening, ask them not to use open spaces for defecating and provide them with toilets,” he requested them.
Regular awareness campaigns are to be held for kiln owners in the future as well.
The kiln owners requested the District administration to arrange street lights to help the labourers move around without fear in the evening.
The awareness campaign was held as a part of project Kaliru. The department personnel along with NGOs had earlier met with farmers regarding HEC under the same project.
Forest Personnel, officials from District administration, representatives of Nature Conservation Society, Environment Conservation Group, Osai and Thadagam Bricks Manufacturers’ Association attended the event.