Coimbatore: Forest Department held a consultative meeting with members of the Coimbatore District Brick Manufacturers' Association at the Madathur CMK Wedding Hall near Thadagam on how to deal with human wildlife conflict related incidents in the interest of the North Indian workers and other workers working in the brick kilns in the Thadagam area under the Coimbatore Forest Range.
Coimbatore: Forest Department held a consultative meeting with members of the Coimbatore District Brick Manufacturers' Association at the Madathur CMK Wedding Hall near Thadagam on how to deal with human wildlife conflict related incidents in the interest of the North Indian workers and other workers working in the brick kilns in the Thadagam area under the Coimbatore Forest Range.
Coimbatore Forest Department Assistant Forest Ranger, Forest Extension Officer, WWF Institutional Coordinator Bhuminathan, Forest Officer, Coimbatore and forest workers were present. He said that cellphone numbers of all the brick kiln owners/managers will be added to 'Thadam' WhatsApp (CIN) group and information on elephant movements will be exchanged. Accordingly, workers are advised to take precautionary measures to protect their lives/properties.
It was also advised to set up basic facilities required for the workers and their families working in each brick kiln such as safe accommodation, toilet facilities, solar fencing around the accommodation and lighting facilities. It was also urged to take precautionary measures by cleaning the bushes in the streams near the kilns and flats. He also urged that in the interest of the workers, the working hours should not exceed 6 pm as there is a lot of elephant movement at night and workers should avoid moving about unnecessarily at night.
It was insisted that torchlights should be provided to the workers and steps should be taken to install streetlights on the roads/paths leading to the brick kilns. It has also been suggested that all workers should be made aware of the forest and elephants and that billboards with glowing warning signs should be installed in areas where man-elephant clashes are areas where there have deaths caused by elephants.
Human casualties caused by elephants are completely avoidable. Damage can be prevented if caution is exercised. In the last August-October, 5 lives have been lost due to human-elephant conflicts. Most of the accidents have taken place in brick kilns and forest-based settlements. The meeting was held to raise awareness and protect humans from accidents caused by elephants.
Coimbatore Forest Department Assistant Forest Ranger, Forest Extension Officer, WWF Institutional Coordinator Bhuminathan, Forest Officer, Coimbatore and forest workers were present. He said that cellphone numbers of all the brick kiln owners/managers will be added to 'Thadam' WhatsApp (CIN) group and information on elephant movements will be exchanged. Accordingly, workers are advised to take precautionary measures to protect their lives/properties.
It was also advised to set up basic facilities required for the workers and their families working in each brick kiln such as safe accommodation, toilet facilities, solar fencing around the accommodation and lighting facilities. It was also urged to take precautionary measures by cleaning the bushes in the streams near the kilns and flats. He also urged that in the interest of the workers, the working hours should not exceed 6 pm as there is a lot of elephant movement at night and workers should avoid moving about unnecessarily at night.
It was insisted that torchlights should be provided to the workers and steps should be taken to install streetlights on the roads/paths leading to the brick kilns. It has also been suggested that all workers should be made aware of the forest and elephants and that billboards with glowing warning signs should be installed in areas where man-elephant clashes are areas where there have deaths caused by elephants.
Human casualties caused by elephants are completely avoidable. Damage can be prevented if caution is exercised. In the last August-October, 5 lives have been lost due to human-elephant conflicts. Most of the accidents have taken place in brick kilns and forest-based settlements. The meeting was held to raise awareness and protect humans from accidents caused by elephants.