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Thursday, Jul 10, 2008
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Solar fence to check jumbo movement

Staff Reporter

Rs. 5 lakhs to be spent on it

The elephant killed several people in Joda area
Committee with three forest officers constituted

BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa government has decided to put up a solar fence along 5-km-long stretch around Thakurani Reserved Forest in Keonjhar district to restrict movement of a marauding elephant that killed several people in Joda area during last couple of years.

“We will spend Rs. 5 lakh on erecting solar fence along the stretch that is facing to human habitation. The fence would enable us to restrict the elephant inside the forest,” Principal Chief Wildlife Warden Bijay Ketan Patnaik said here on Wednesday.

He said the elephant was spotted inside the Thakurani forest, which spread over a 4,000 hectare area. “We have noticed that the elephant was approaching 215 National Highway to stop vehicles through a particular patch. If that patch was sealed, the problem could be solved,” Mr. Patnaik said.

Other steps

Other escape routes of the elephant could be plugged through trenches and those could be developed under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). The particular elephant had developed a habit of demanding food from commuters by stopping their vehicles.

Moreover, four trackers along with two guards would be immediately engaged to keep an eye on movement of the elephant so that local inhabitants could be warned beforehand, he said.

If elephant continued to intrude human habitations despite these steps, then the pachyderm could be tranquilized and brought to Nandankanan Zoological Park or any other national park for tourism purposes, he said, adding that “this will be our last option.”

A committee comprising three officers of the rank of conservator of forests has been constituted to supervise the whole exercise and they have been asked to furnish a report with the State government.

Forest officials said the elephant had been frequently crossing border of Jharkhand to enter Orissa’s Joda town. Since large-scale mining was carried out in the Keonjhar district, elephants are fast losing their fodder inside the forest.

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