A pilot project to install steel wire fence to prevent elephants from foraying into human habitat, is under way at Nagarahole and is expected to reduce human-elephant conflict in the region.
Though railway track fence has also been installed along certain stretches of Nagarahole, it has been ineffective at some places with elephants known to surmount the barrier. Besides, the cost is prohibitive and hence the authorities are experimenting with steel wire barricading. Mahesh Kumar, Director, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, said that this was a pilot project under implementation at Veeranahosahalli range of the tiger reserve where the conflict was on the higher side. It would not replace the ongoing railway track fence installation but was being taken up as a pilot project and if found to be successful, it would be taken up on a large scale, he added. The cost of rail barricading was in excess of ₹1.5 crore per km whereas the steel wire fence costs around ₹55 lakh to ₹60 lakh per km, he said.
The concept entails installation of 13-feet-tall concrete pillars weighing nearly 1.5 tons providing it a depth of at least 5 feet so as to firmly secure it to the ground. The pillars are connected with a band of five steel wires and the strength of the wires has been tested using the camp elephants which tried to cross over the steel wires but failed.
Minister for Cooperation and in charge of Mysuru district, S.T. Somashekar, visited the Veeranahosahalli range on Wednesday and apprised himself of the salient features of the project.
He said the government was supportive of all measures to minimise human-elephant conflicts that were on the rise and the steel wire barricading was one such experiment supplementing solar fence, elephant proof trench, and rail track fence.
It had been taken up for the first time in Karnataka and if successful, could be taken up in other areas in Kodagu, Hassan, and Chikkamagaluru where the conflict was high, according to officials.
