TURA, Dec 21: Residents along the Assam-Meghalaya interstate border as well as those near the international border with Bangladesh have been spending sleepless nights with elephants entering human habitation, mostly in search of food.
The famed elephant corridor falls between the countries of Bangladesh, India and Bhutan with pachyderms circling these areas at various times of the year. These gentle giants move through in search of food which becomes scarce during the dry season putting them right in the path of conflict with humans.
As per latest reports, a herd of about 8-10 elephants have been roaming the border between Assam’s Goalpara and parts of North and West Garo Hills in Meghalaya. At least five persons have been killed in Goalpara district alone in the past three days, including one person who was trampled upon by the herd on Tuesday.
The Forest department along with police personnel have currently placed themselves on the road between Agia in Goalpara and Tikrikilla in WGH and are preventing the movement of traffic to ensure there are no more casualties.
The pachyderms have been around the area for the past week.
“We are monitoring the situation very closely and are working with the Meghalaya Wildlife department as well. Currently the elephants are on the Assam side of the border and we are advising people to use safer routes for travel till the elephants move away,” an Assam forest official said on Wednesday.
Villages across both states have been asked to keep vigil to ensure the elephants do not run riot.
Another herd of over 40 elephants have been spotted at Baghmara near the international border. As per locals, the herd has been in the area for the past two weeks and have been causing panic across both countries.
The elephants have been seen between Sibbari and Baghmara in South Garo Hills and are believed to have come from near the Angratuli Reserve Forest area in India.
“They are roaming near the border road and their movement has caused us all to stay awake at night. Villagers in Sibbari, Domdoma, Nilwagre areas have not slept peacefully since the past 2 weeks as the elephants keep coming and going into the villages. The animals are currently in Bangladesh,” said Taiwan M Sangma, a resident of Baghmara.
Another local, Handrick Marak felt elephants from the Baghmara Reserve as well as the Angratuli one may have joined together to form a huge herd of 40-45 elephants, with many calves amongst them. They have stayed around the same place since the past 2 months.
With the harvest season just complete, the elephants, locals believe, have come down in search of food. Further with trees from many of the reserves being illegally cut, a shortage of food could be one of the reasons for the behaviour of the elephants.
Photos of a trail of destruction left behind by the pachyderms have added to the panic. The destruction, for now, is on the Bangladesh side of the border.
Meanwhile the DFO of Wildlife, West, South West and South Garo Hills, Rupankar Marak said that the situation is being closely monitored by his team. On a positive note, there have been no reported casualties in Garo Hills in the present, he said.
In recent years, loss of forest cover as well as the lack of enough food and the reported increase in the elephant population has led to frequent encounters between them and humans resulting in casualties. Many elephants have been reportedly killed when stepping on overhead electrical wires that fall to the ground while many people have been reportedly killed by marauding herds in search of food.
“As long as we share the same space, such conflicts are inevitable. There has been habitat destruction of the elephants as well as fragmentation of the population. Further the expansion of agricultural space and a growth of population of both humans as well as the elephants. We continue to monitor the situation so that it does not go out of control,” said Rupankar when contacted on the reasons for such conflicts.
