COIMBATORE: Encouraged by the success of PDS shops in containers in keeping elephants away from ransacking them for food grains, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation has installed similar shops in four more areas in Valparai plateau, that frequently targeted by wild elephants. They will be opened soon.
The first container shop was set up in March 2024 between Muthumudi and Thaimudi tea estate where wild elephant movement is high. The pilot project was supported by the forest department and NGO.
With the initiative yielding positive results, the TNCSC, with the help of a private firm, has installed four containers at Iyerpadi, Ryan division, Pannimedu, and Nallamudi estate into containers.
Mostly, buildings owned by the estate managements have been used as ration shops in Valparai, providing PDS commodities to estate workers. Wild elephants raid these shops in the night hours. “This problem has persisted for several years, and the idea of shifting the shops to containers was proposed on a pilot basis.
As we expected, it gave positive outcomes. Two months ago, an elephant herd tried to break open a container shop in Thaimudi estate, but it was very strong and the elephants could not break it open. After this, we decided to open four shops in containers,” said G Saravanan, Valparai taluk supply officer.
Each container costs around `six lakh and is sponsored by the GD group from Coimbatore city. There are 43 ration shops in the Valparai plateau, most of which function out of estate buildings in the remote areas where elephant movement is high. The Civil Supplies Department has requested estate managements to establish containers and they responded by allocating space.
Whenever buildings are damaged by elephant attacks, the estate managements spend money to repair them. Instead of continuous repairing of damaged buildings, they have been asked to support the installation of container shops. “We recently held a meeting with the estate managements to stress the importance of container ration shops. This is the only effective solution to prevent elephant damage in the Valparai region,” said a senior official.