The Nilgiris: To check wild elephant depredations into the cluster of villages near Gudalur, the Forest Department officials have stationed two Kumkis at Thorapalli forest check post.
The Nilgiris: To check wild elephant depredations into the cluster of villages near Gudalur, the Forest Department officials have stationed two Kumkis at Thorapalli forest check post.
“The Kumkis namely, Jambu and Wasim will stand guard at the check post and help drive back the wild elephants which tend to venture into the villages, both during day and night times,” said forest officials. The decision was arrived at a recent meeting of stakeholders including farmers and officials, held at the RDO office in Gudalur.
With a recent instance of a wild elephant attacking a milk procurement vehicle and incidents of wild elephants chasing school-going children and destroying crops in the past few months in villages including Thorapalli, Kunilvayal, Yechamvaya, and Vadavayal, farmers in the region staged a protest. As an added measure, forest watchers were also engaged in lighting fires near the entry points where elephants strayed in, and farmers have been engaged in erecting solar fences around their fields.
The villagers have also appealed to the Forest Department to renovate existing elephant-proof trenches near the buffer zones and install solar fences wherever necessary to check elephants venturing into villages. “The forest officials have promised to look into our problems and address it with utmost urgency,” said the villagers.
“The Kumkis namely, Jambu and Wasim will stand guard at the check post and help drive back the wild elephants which tend to venture into the villages, both during day and night times,” said forest officials. The decision was arrived at a recent meeting of stakeholders including farmers and officials, held at the RDO office in Gudalur.
With a recent instance of a wild elephant attacking a milk procurement vehicle and incidents of wild elephants chasing school-going children and destroying crops in the past few months in villages including Thorapalli, Kunilvayal, Yechamvaya, and Vadavayal, farmers in the region staged a protest. As an added measure, forest watchers were also engaged in lighting fires near the entry points where elephants strayed in, and farmers have been engaged in erecting solar fences around their fields.
The villagers have also appealed to the Forest Department to renovate existing elephant-proof trenches near the buffer zones and install solar fences wherever necessary to check elephants venturing into villages. “The forest officials have promised to look into our problems and address it with utmost urgency,” said the villagers.