With conventional methods like stonewalls failed to discourage the wild animals from destroying crops, the State forest department would now help the famers protect their crops from wild animals by solar-fencing their fields in the terai region.
A proposal for doing solar fencing in 27 km area in the terai region has been approved by the Government, said SP Singh, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), the terai-central forest division. Once the rainy season is over, we would first try to do solar fencing in areas / villages which are close to the forests so that wild animals could not enter these villages, he added.
As the wildlife experts here believe solar fencing would not only help protect crops like sugarcane from the wild animals like elephants but also minimise the chances of man-animal conflict in the region. The matter of concern is that the terai belt of Uttarakhand which is known for huge agricultural potential has not become less vulnerable to such cases of man-animal conflicts following rapid urbanisations of late.
Encroachment by the wild animals like the elephants upon the human habitats for fodder has only led to increasing cases of the man-animals conflicts here, as the villagers always complaint. The wildlife experts here maintain, shrinking grass lands or scarcity of fodder in the wild habitat obviously due to repaid urbanization has only caused more damage to crops of late in human habitations and also given rise to the man-animal conflicts.
Apart from increasing commercial activities in this terai region of Uttarakhand in recent years, blocking of the Gola elephant corridor due to the same increasing commercial activities and urbanisation is also a reason behind increasing cases of wildlife encroachment upon the human habitation for fodder. It is to note that earlier the said Gola elephant corridor used to go upto the Nepal border from the mountain State’s terai landscape.
However, keeping in view the damage to crops and increasing cases of man-animal conflicts, the state forest department is now going to do solar fencing in all sensitive locations of this terai region.