Mettupalayam : Natural water resources have dried up due to water scarcity and lack of sufficient rainfall in the Mettupalayam Forest range, which comes under the Coimbatore Forest jurisdiction. Hence, wild elephants are now moving in herds to drink water from artificial water ponds created by the Forest department along forest borders.
Mettupalayam : Natural water resources have dried up due to water scarcity and lack of sufficient rainfall in the Mettupalayam Forest range, which comes under the Coimbatore Forest jurisdiction. Hence, wild elephants are now moving in herds to drink water from artificial water ponds created by the Forest department along forest borders.
The Mettupalayam Forest Range spreads across 23 acres of land. Even though tigers, leopards, bears, bisons and deer live in this forest, elephants have increased in numbers. Due to the failure of monsoons this year and during early summer, drought continues to prevail in the forest area. The water resources like streams and ponds that fulfill the water needs of the wild animals are drying up every day. Hence wild animals continue to move in search for drinking water. Comparatively, smaller animals like the deer satisfy their thirst with limited water resources found but elephants are facing the brunt of a dry summer since they need minimum 200 litres of water per day. They are struggling to find water and hence enter agricultural lands and villages to find water and food, which has led to the man-elephant conflict resulting in the loss of numerous lives.
To avoid this, the Mettupalayam Forest Department is maintaining water tanks in 15 different places. Water is filled in these 15 tanks on a daily basis with the help of water tankers. An elephant that has a strong sense of smell finds the direction of these water tanks and moves immediately to quench its thirst, emptying out water tanks in minutes.
Farmers and wildlife enthusiasts in the area say, “There are not enough water tanks to quench the thirst of all the elephants that visit the tanks. Hence more tanks should be installed and water should be filled twice a day to fulfil the water needs of the elephants and prevent them from causing damage by invading agricultural fields and villages.”
Forest officials assure, “Artificial ponds have been created in five different places in the Mettupalayam forest range to store rainwater. Arrangements have been made to fill water from borewells in addition to lorry tankers. Steps will be taken to build new water tanks in the forest.”