WARANGAL: Human-animal conflict is likely to increase this summer. Wild animals, in search of water, enter villages near the forests and often get killed by villagers.
With past experiences, forest officials of the four northern Telangana districts have initiated measures to make water available in the forest areas. In Bhupalpally, there were incidents when animals were poached in villages, abutting the forests in Eturnagaram, Tadvai and Pakhal in yester years.
A senior forest official said they are digging ‘saucer pits’, which collect water from underground sources and are accessible to the animals. Each pit has the capacity to store at least 2,000 to 2,500 litres. It is learnt that officials fill the pits with water once in every week.
The forest officials are creating waterholes by digging saucer pits where animals frequent and are also monitoring the movement of animals, the official added.
Conservator of forests B Anand Mohan and district forest officer I Prakash recently inspected the forest area to learn about the availability of water in various water bodies.Initially, one natural stream has been identified to pump water to other water bodies through solar pump sets.
Meanwhile, with 794 hectare of forest area available,four hillocks have been identified to store water in Karimnagar.
Known for its forest cover, the erstwhile Adilabad district houses a varied species of animals. Forest officials have identified about 70 places where water shortage in Sattupalli, Tallada and some part in Madhira ranges.“We are taking all measures for providing drinking water to wild animals in the sanctuary,’’ said divisional forest officer M Nagabhushanam. He said water shortage in Rangapuram forest has been noticed and water was being supplied from old well.
(Inputs from Anil Kumar, Naveen Kumar Tallam, S Raja Reddy and B Satyanarayana Reddy)