From Our Correspondent
TURA: In another case of human-elephant conflict a herd of 12 elephants strayed into the NEHU campus, Tura on Thursday.
The herd entered the Campus following their inborn instincts to forage in what was their feeding and breeding grounds once upon a time.
It may be mentioned that the long trodden path of the pachyderms goes through Damalgre, Ganolgre via Chasingre, Misimagre and Duragre along the Nokrek range. This corridor has been used by the elephants of Garo hills since time immemorial to cross over to the Nokrek range during the monsoons. The elephants in their annual migration come into contact with these plantations and human settlements posing a serious threat to both humans and animals.
However, the lush green vegetation has been cut down along the critical corridor to pave way for the present NEHU campus. Hence the jumbos were left to forage in the remaining patches of thick vegetation inside the campus. They sometimes venture out from their haunts and raid the paddy fields of nearby villages unintentionally destroying them in the process.
This particular herd has a toddler, a week or two old, in tow, making it difficult for the herd to cross over to Duragre from Chasingre through the National Highway 51. Adding to their woes are villagers on the other side of NH 51 who have resorted to burning crackers and bonfires to deter the pachyderms.
Unless something is done about this frequent human-elephant conflict in the region, loss of life and property in the future cannot be ruled out.
The recent announcement of the BSF to construct a special fencing along the elephant corridor in the Indo-Bangla border could be a beginning of the end of the current situation.
