Many villagers in Alur and Sakleshpur taluks get up in the morning worrying about the elephant herds that freely roam in their region. They think twice before stepping out of homes as herds could be anywhere.
Though this is an issue they have lived with for decades, they say that the number of elephants has gone up in recent days. They are split into herds, treading into coffee plantations and paddy fields in different parts of the two taluks.
A few planters have not been able to enter into their estates as elephants have stayed put there for weeks. Paddy growers are not sure of getting the yield. Worse still, people with no toilet facility at home are worried about their safety when they go out.
According to the Forest Department’s estimates, there are around 60 pachyderms spread over three ranges – Alur, Sakleshpur, and Yeslur. Recently, elephant movements have been noticed in parts of Belur range as well.
B.S. Rohith, a planter at Baage near Sakleshpur, told The Hindu: “We have named them ‘plantation elephants.’ Many of them that roam in our area have never gone to the forest. They were born here and if not relocated, they will die here. Unless they are all captured and relocated, we cannot grow coffee.” Planters here have been demanding a permanent solution to the problem.
In 2014, the Forest Department captured 22 elephants and shifted them to camps. The relocation exercise was taken up as per the court orders. Over the years, the number increased with new members joining the herd every year. In the last 10 years, more than 60 people have died in elephant attacks. However, in the last two-and-a-half years, there have been no human deaths, though there were incidents causing injuries.
Systems in place
The incidents of human-elephant conflict have come down due to the elephant tracking system place and mechanism to spread information about elephants’ whereabouts on a real-time basis through mobile phones.
The department has also introduced rapid response teams, involving local people to track the herds and alert people around. The department sends alerts to over 3,700 people using mobile network, with the support of Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), a non-government organisation.
Vinod Krishnan of NCF said that apart from the Forest Department, many other government departments have many things to do to minimise man-elephant conflicts. “There are many areas with no streetlights. If gram panchayats could provide streetlights, it can help a lot. Many families do not have toilets at home. They encounter elephants when they go out to answer nature’s call. The government machinery can address these issues. The Agriculture Department, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, and institutions like Coffee Board can take up many initiatives,” he said.
Deputy Conservator of Forests Sivaram Babu said: “There have been no deaths in the last two years in Alur and Yeslur ranges. There was one death in Sakleshpur range. We have radio-collared elephants, leading the herds. These measures have brought down human-animal encounters.”
Too little relief
But farmers are worried because agriculture and plantation activities have been hampered due to the presence of elephants in big numbers. Whenever they suffer loss of crop, the government provides them with ex gratia, which is no way equal to the loss they suffered. The rates of compensation for coffee plants and paddy crop damaged is negligible. Planters get ₹200 per coffee plant damaged and in case of paddy fields, farmers get ₹1,650 per quintal of paddy. “We have proposed a hike in compensation to the State government. The government has to clear it. In the last financial year, we paid crop compensation of ₹1.5 crore and this year within three months, we have cleared ₹15 lakhs. A few applications are pending, which will be cleared,” said Mr. Sivaram.
