ROURKELA: With rise in man-animal conflicts, authorities of Bonai Forest Division (BFD) are finding it tough to douse the ire of locals.
A host of preventive measures including radio collaring of rogue elephants and drone surveillance seem falling apart. Sources said for the last couple of years, BFD has been witnessing an unprecedented rise in elephant depredation incidents. The division from April till now has witnessed at least eight human deaths along with substantial damage to houses and crops. In 2023-24 the division had reported at least 12 human casualties and BFD had to pay around Rs 1.5 crore in compensation for the deaths and loss of property.
Two marauding solitary tuskers staying in Koida and Bonai forest ranges, both fitted with radio collars recently, are the biggest trouble markers. In the latest incident, one of the radio-collared tuskers killed an elderly villager in the wee-hours of Friday. A day earlier two forest employees tracking an elephant herd in Kulposh range were injured in an attack by an elephant.
Koida-B zilla parishad member Ashok Naik said resentment is growing against the frequent elephant raids and failure of the Forest department to ensure safety of the poor and vulnerable villagers. Villagers living in mud houses in forest are at higher risk with elephants attacking mud houses attracted by the smell of country liquor or in search of food.
In Koida forest range, a drone equipped with thermal infrared (IR) imaging camera has been deployed to get real-time data on movement of elephants. Plans are afoot to start drone surveillance in rest of the BFD. Five months back, bamboo plantation was taken up on an experimental basis in two locations of Koida to create natural habitats for the elephants. However, the effort would take 3-4 years to bear fruit.
Bonai DFO Lalit Patra said technology too has its limitations. In radio collar method only seven alerts are received in 2-3 hours. He said in drone surveillance the battery needs to be recharged after 30 minutes of use. Both drone and radio collar methods have significantly helped in tracking elephants and mitigate human-elephant conflicts but there remain gaps. Patra said BFD staff are leaving no stone unturned to protect human lives and property. At least 80-90 elephants are present in different forests of BFD.
No end in sight
The divison from April till now has witnessed at least eight human deaths
BFD paid Rs 1.5 crore compensation to the kin of deceased
Drones and radio collaring have not yielded the desired result