Rajakumari (Idukki): As the summer scorches and the water sources dry up, wild animals including elephants have started raiding human settlements in search of food and water. A herd of elephants terrorized travelers along the Kochi-Dhanushkodi national highway near Neriamangalam last week. The herd claimed another stretch on the highway near Anayirankal for several hours on Thursday.
The Chinnakkanal and Santhanpara panchayats have been gripped in an elephant scare for a few months. The forest department has been keeping a watch for the animal movement along the human settlements to issue promptly warnings to the people. Elephants have come dangerously close to human habitats in the areas around Sinkunkandam, Vettontheri, Cement Palam, Suryanelli, Kolukkumala, Panniyar, Kozhippanakudi, Sixty Acre and Chinnakkanal.
The forest department has sent SMS alerts to the people whenever elephant herds ventured out of the forests. The department has advised the people to avoid traveling by night as far as possible.
The elephants are usually forced out of their habitats at the height of the summer when their ranges experience the vagaries of climate change. This year, water bodies inside the forest dried up even before the onset of the summer. The situation is only expected to worsen, making animal intrusions more frequent.
Wild elephants ventured into human habitats as early as February when the forest is supposed to be more bearable. Just two weeks ago, a herd of elephants chased away an agricultural laborer in a cardamom plantation in the Rajakumari panchayat. Farmers in the Bison Valley, Munnoorekkar and Manjakkuzhi areas have decided not to plant bananas this year since the fruits are sure to draw in herds of hungry elephants.
Denied bananas, the elephants have turned into cardamom plantations. The agriculture sector in the high ranges has suffered losses of crores of rupees in the last month. Local residents report a concentration of elephants in a stretch of land allotted to the landless tribals by the government.
The area near Sinkunkandam, called 301 Colony, is a favorite spot for the elephants because of the easy access to a watering hole. The loners from this group often stray into human settlements in search of more food.
The 301 Colony was once a refuge of the elephants. About 200 families were forced to abandon their houses in the colony after the elephant scare intensified. Now the area is entirely under the control of the animals.
Environmental activists suggested that the forest department could make water available inside the forest to prevent the animals from venturing out to quench their thirst. The forest officials had done so in the forest areas near Chinnar in the previous years.
They dug up an artificial lake in a place frequented by the animals and filled it with water transported in tankers at least once a week.
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