Elephant problem persisting in northern part of State is no longer a new issue for Chhattisgarh. What is new in the story is that, these giant pachyderms in search of food and shelter have reached in the jungles of Mahasamund near Pithoda which happens to be part of Raipur circle.
The increasing of proximity of wild elephant has not been able to evoke the forest department from slumber which lacks the basic facility to capture elephants.
Amalendu Mishra, hailing from Surguja region who has been associated with development of elephant problem for about past 15 years and is also the member of committee working on Tiger reserve proposed in Guru Ghasidas National Park tells that the group of wild elephants
foraying into jungles of Pithora are from neighbouring
Odisha State.
“It is the nature of elephant that initially a small group of these wild animal survey an area and then if they found the jungles fit for their living then they return in large number. These groups of elephant should be seen as harbingers of a big problem coming for which department is totally unprepared.
The department do not have any serious vision to address the problem,” he alleged and adds that at few places in local level solar fencing have been set up but that too not very much effective.
In reply to quarry over preparations required for
capturing and controlling of elephants he tells the department do not have trained elephant that are must for capturing any elephant. Only few tranquillizer guns and two veterinary doctors are all the department has to control them. According to elephant census conducted by Forest department the number of elephant has raised from 122 in 2007 to 215 in 2012. The raise in number of this key stone wild species has multiplied the chances of their contacts with human population.
TS Singh Deo, member of state wildlife board and Congress MlA from Ambikapur says the forest department has failed in providing fodder and water to elephants in their habitat due to which it has been forced to come out of the jungle. The loss of jungles in Singhbhoom area of Jharkhand has forced the wild elephants to enter in Surguja which cooperatively has good jungles.
“The proposed elephant corridor consisting of Badalkhol, Semarsot and Tamor Pingla wildlife sanctuary in Surguja circle has also been place in cold storage,” says Singh Deo.
The jungles of lemru which were ideal for elephants are all set to be given to mining lobbies. In these circumstances the problem will rise, warns Singh Deo.