Agartala: Protests rocked parts of Tripura’s Teliamura subdivision against repeated incidents of elephant attacks.
According to locals, wild tuskers have become regular visitors across the Krishnapur assembly constituency and leave behind a trail of destruction. While farmers of the area are the worst victims of the elephant attacks, multiple houses built on mud walls had been razed by the tuskers in the last couple of days.
Seeking adequate compensation for the losses incurred by the villagers, the locals staged a series of protests and road blockades. As the situation turned highly volatile, local MLA and Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma went to the spot and pleaded with the protestors to lift the blockade. The locals positively responded to the Minister’s appeal, but there were little change in the ground scenario.
Elephant depredation in the area has turned into a perennial crisis, which the locals believe has no easy solution. Speaking on the issue, Minister Bikash Debbarma said that a project proposal worth Rs 10 crore had been readied to construct barbed wire fencing and solar lights to keep the tuskers at bay.
“I have raised the issue in the cabinet meeting as well. These people who are now in distress are my voters. The elephant that creates a ruckus every night has been identified by the forest officials. I have spoken to the DFO, we are planning to rescue it and keep it at the Mungiakami elephant camp. A proposal of Rs 10 crore has also been prepared for some constructions,” Debbarma told media persons.
Meanwhile, sources in the forest department said the project was prepared based on the findings of the data collected through “Radio Collaring” matriarch heard of tuskers. On the recent depredations, the top official said this is not the work of a herd. “We have found three solitary elephants who roam without any companion in the forest. They are the real troublemakers,” the official said.
Speaking about the study conducted on elephant herd movement in Tripura forests, the official said, “In February 2023, the radio collaring of the matriarch was done. The matriarch is the oldest and most dominant female leader of the elephant herds. She is the leader, and in times of crisis, she leads from the front. The radio collars were implanted with the help of experts from ANCF (Asian Nature Conservation Foundation). The project’s objective was to study the movement of elephants and track down their natural habitat. Soon after that collection of data for research and analysis purposes began.”
He said that a closer look at the data retrieved from the radio signals reveals interesting facts about the movements of wild jumbos. “We could figure out that the elephants responsible for the damage of croplands, houses and other human property are not part of the larger herd that roams across the Atharomura hill range. There are three solitary elephants that are locally called Moti, Tumor and Makhna. Makhna is especially those elephants that lost their tusks. According to the testimonies of the locals and sightings of forest guards, Moti is the elephant which is creating all the trouble, and sometimes, Makhna is also sighted alongside,” the data revealed.
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Based on the findings, a decision has been taken to construct barbed wire fencing in some areas and install street lights in areas where frequent sightings are reported. Apart from that, the department is also contemplating rescuing Moti from the forest. “If everything falls in the right direction, Moti will be shifted to Mungiakami elephant camp,” the top source told East Mojo.
A track record of the natural habitat of the wild elephant herd and its locations in different seasons is also compiled in a report. An analysis of the dung pile count indicated that the total number of elephants in the herd would be between 30 to 35, a senior official has confirmed.
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