The forest officials have mooted an action plan to put an end to the vexed issue of wild elephants getting electrocuted in the fields of Koundinya wildlife sanctuary belt, and during their forays towards the plains.
The official number of casualties due to electrocution between 2010 and 2022 stands at 16, including 15 in Chittoor West and one in East division.
In the summer months from March to June, till the arrival of the South-west monsoon, the wild elephants are known for making extensive forays into agriculture fields and the surrounding village tanks in Palamaner and Kuppam ranges in search of fodder and water. Though the Koundinya sanctuary hosts a rugged terrain with forested hills and valleys and water bodies, in some periods of the year, particularly in summer, the fodder and water sources turn scarce. To confine the jumbos to the sanctuary, the forest officials get busy arranging saltlicks, water troughs, and fodder, but the herds continue their jaunts towards the fields.
All the jumbo casualties due to electrocution were due to weak electrical poles, erecting of transformers, and uninsulated power cables laid across the fields at a low height. Forest officials say the jumbos have the habit of rubbing their bodies against rough objects such as trees and rocks in the wild to relieve themselves of an itching sensation. Even in the agriculture fields, they rub themselves against electric poles and transformers. As the weak poles are not a match to the might of the jumbos, the poles get uprooted and the live cables fall on the pachyderms, leading to electrocution. Secondly, while passing under the live cables across the fields, the jumbos also face the grave risk of getting electrocuted.
Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor West) S. Ravi Shankar, expressing serious concern at the jumbo casualties, said that the sad development was brought to the notice of Collector M. Hari Narayanan during a recent meeting. “We are chalking out an action plan to put an end to this sorry state of affairs. A meeting with the SPDCL authorities would be arranged soon to directly communicate our unease to them over the casualties of wild elephants. As the pachyderms are now moving out of the forests and moving towards the fields, I hope the power department will also look into the matter and resolve the issue,” the DFO said.
The official said that erecting strong electric poles in the fields and forest zone, besides increasing the height of the LT lines, could be effective solutions to end the jumbo deaths.
According to the SPDCL officials, the number of electrical poles in the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary zone would be around 500, while the number could be twice as much in the surrounding mandals of Irala, Tavanampalle, Somala, Yadamarri, and Gudipala, which have also seen frequent jumbo movements in recent years, straying several kilometers away from the Koundinya reserves. The power officials find it difficult to arrange insulated power cables in vulnerable areas, as it could involve expenditure which would run into several crores of rupees.
