The mercury on the surge, not just the humans but the animals keep suffering the gruelling summer heat. While the people take to the rivers to beat the heat the animals living in the Rajaji Park and Tiger Reserve love to take plunges in waterholes specially dug for them in the forest ranges to cool the summer burns. The elephants, in particular, which abound in the forest are happily using them now a days as the summer heat is turning intolerable.
The waterholes are charged every summer season to help the beasts cool themselves. They drink, bathe, sprinkle and splash the water on themselves and others to beat the heat. Such waterholes are helping the tourists too to spot the animals in their hordes in one place, otherwise a rare opportunity for them.
As part of the heat- combating measures, the park authorities have dug fresh waterholes this year, repaired a few and expanded the older ones, taking the Met department’s gruelling summer forecast for this year seriously. Besides the jumbos, the tigers, cheetals (spotted deer) and sambars which also live there in large number are gleefully using the waterholes to cool themselves. The foresters said that the jumbos help them to rightly locate the places suitable for digging the waterholes. “We identify the places the elephants get their trunks in in quest of water. We instantly understand that the water level is near the surface at such places,” said a forester.
Speaking to The Pioneer, wildlife warden Rajaji National Park and Tiger Reserve Haridwar, Komal Singh said, “Nearly 45 waterholes now exist in the Haridwar territory of Rajaji National Park and Tiger Reserve. These include five water bodies and four anicuts. It is, however, a challenging task for the park officials to maintain the concrete waterholes in the forest area. Sometimes water pipelines are brought from a distance to fill the waterholes. Water is being supplied through the Government tankers in Dhaulkhand range while the same is being done in Chillawali and other forest ranges through hired tankers.”
Officers have been deputed by the park authorities to monitor that the holes have sufficient water in them to enable the heat-stricken beasts to cool themselves. “If some waterhole gets dry a well is dug in its vicinity to replenish the dry ones,” said Singh, adding that the hole dug in lalukhala beat under Chillawali range had been expanded last year. He further said that a well had been dug some two km away from the dried waterhole and a pipeline had been laid to replenish it with the required quantum of water.
A wild life scientist Bivash Pandav said that the elephants are infallible guides as to the places to be dug. "Elephant is a very sensitive and clean animal. It never drinks from stagnant water. It digs hole into the ground with its trunk for fresh water, thereby making a small hole there. This gives us clue as to where the water level is nearer to the ground and we dig holes near such places,” he added.
It is learnt that there are 20 concrete and 34 ‘un-concrete’ waterholes dug by the park authorities in different ranges of the park which extends to over 1000 sq km area.