The Hindu : Front Page : Jungle water sources being assessed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 08, 2007
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Jungle water sources being assessed

V.S. Palaniappan

TAKING STOCK: A deer drinking water in a forest area. — Photo: K. Ananthan

Coimbatore: With summer approaching, the Forest Department is taking stock of the artificial and perennial water sources in jungles across the district. Improving such water availability should prevent straying of wild animals.

District Forest Officer I. Anwardeen told The Hindu that the exercise, undertaken under the guidance of Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, P.C. Tyagi, also sought to improve habitats by enhancing the availability of water and feed to prevent straying of animals into human habitations.

The reserve forests in Coimbatore, spread over 683 sq km in six ranges, have 16 artificial water sources in the form of troughs and ponds. Of these, four were created recently at a cost of Rs 4.25 lakh.

Besides, there were 16 perennial and natural water sources. There is a minimum of one and maximum of four in each range.

Mr. Anwardeen said there was no real dearth of water for wild animals. Coimbatore division accounted for 250 to 300 elephants on an average, and each pachyderm needed 50 to 180 litres of water a day. The total requirement is thus 4,500 litres. The other animals that frequented the artificial water sources included bison and deer, but their consumption rate was lower. The same was the case with carnivores. It was the location and distance between the water sources that mattered for effective management of wildlife, he said.

Of the 16 artificial water sources one was a hand pump. In order to prevent elephants from damaging it, trenches had been dug around it. Some of the other artificial sources such as troughs and ponds were being filled with the help of submersible pumps, Mr. Anwardeen said.

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