Angara, Bero, Silli and Chanho blocks around Ranchi district have been constantly haunted by the elephant menace, and the situation is not going to change, according to the district forest officials.“The area frequented by elephant herds is in fact a migration route they are habituated to. We cannot direct them to deviate from it as we deem fit, owing to their size and nature, and any forceful attempt to do so result in disastrous human-elephant conflicts,” said District Forest Officer of Ranchi Rajiv lochan Bakshi.“This migration route, or elephant corridor, is a pathway for elephants and is not permanently inhabited by them. Human settlements in this region result in human-elephant conflicts.
Also, the local alcoholic beverage, hadia, attracts the herds which again lead to clashes between the two species,” added Bakshi.“The residents of these tusker-frequented areas have been provided firecrackers and torches to scare off intruding elephants. Forest department personnel also respond promptly to any complaints they receive,” assured PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden Pradeep Kumar.But these preventive measures produce short-lived effects, informed Bakshi. “Elephants are intelligent creatures; they learn to work around obstacles we place to stop them from damaging property.
One such example is that of the electric fences put up around agricultural fields, which were broke through by elephants at running speeds to avoid electric shocks,” he said.Speaking about the recent intrusion of a herd of around fifteen elephants in Chanho block, he said that the herd came in from Chatra and are going towards Chhattisgarh, moving slowly as they have three calves with them.“We have our two teams moving with them, one ahead of them and the other following them, to ensure that the herd and human population they encounter do not harm each other. The damage they have caused is quite limited too,” he added.In contrast to this statement, extensive damage to houses, crops and stored food-grains were reported from the villages this herd of elephants passed by in Chanho three days ago.We have instructed the district forest officials to look into the matter and provide required equipments to keep elephants at bay, said PCCF Pradeep Kumar.