The intermittent rain in the past two days has not only brought down the temperature but also given respite to wildlife in the forest division.
Earlier, the animals had to trudge miles in the park to slake their thirst. It was getting difficult to fill the waterholes made by the park authorities with mercury soaring up, said the park officials. Now, the foresters are happy that the elephants would be getting their requirement fulfilled inside the forest. They would thus not stray into the residential colonies, plucking hand pumps and water taps to wet their parched throats .
The forest department had made waterholes way ahead of the summer season in anticipation of the water scarcity. But the surging mercury dried up the water and made it difficult to replenish. The water shortage in the Ganga canal had taken a toll on the wildlife in the Shyampur forest range of Haridwar district under Rajaji National Park and Tiger Reserve. The 75-km long east Ganga canal, which normally carries about 1,000 million gallons per day and is the main water source for wildlife, was running dry. On demand of the forest officials, Uttar Pradesh irrigation department released 300 cusecs of water in the canal for limited hours.
Speaking to The Pioneer, range officer Haridwar forest division D P Uniyal said, “We got some respite as the rains charged the waterholes made for elephants and other animals. The movement of the elephants towards Shyampur range of the forest would be checked. The wild animals of Haridwar, Beriwada, Dholkhand and Shyampur have been benefitted with the rainfall. It is hoped the movement of the animals towards city area would stop with ample water being available inside forest. The Ganga canal is also running full stream which would recharge the water sources in the forest.”