ROURKELA: AS jumbo menace continues and the usual elephant driving methods not yielding the desired results, the authorities of Rourkela Forest Division (RFD) in Sundargarh district have proposed expansion of solar fencing and elephant-proof trench coverage as a final resort. Yet, covering the vast porous forest borders with Jharkhand remains a challenging task. In fact, incidents of elephant menace are so high under the RFD limits that a herd of seven elephants in January alone has claimed five human lives, while 12 villagers have died since June 2017.
Sources said food habits of elephants have undergone a drastic change and they often raid mud houses and schools in search of foods. The elephants have become habituated to human presence and the traditional driving techniques of using torch fire, beating of drums and tin cans and bursting of fire crackers are no more effective. A forest officer said even if the elephants are driven into the forests of Jharkhand, the villagers of the neighbouring State retaliate by driving them back to RFD limits.
Rourkela Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjay Kumar Swain said they plan to cover another 100 km with solar fencing to secure the most vulnerable border areas of Bisra and Birmitrapur ranges with Jharkhand without disturbing the regular elephant movement corridors. Some vulnerable villages of Kuanrmunda would also be covered with solar fencing.