MAN vs BEAST

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Link: http://www.assamtribune.com/sun.html

 

MAN VS BEAST By: Asif Ahmed Hazarika

 

Nature has gifted Asom and its neighbouring States, which is

together called the North East, with immense natural beauty and

wealth.

Existence of a vast population of Asiatic Elephants (Elephas

maximus) in the North East, especially in Asom since centuries back,

is also a part of this great gift.

 

Earlier, the elephant population in the North East was distributed

as per their preferential habitat requirements and biological needs

and they moved about the North East in traditional elephant

migration routes which most often traverse the present day

interstate boundaries.

 

Among the Northeastern states, elephants were mostly distributed or

existed in Asom, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh (NEFA), with small

scattered populations or individual animals in Manipur and Nagaland,

and only stray ones occasionally sighted in the Mizoram foothills

along the Asom border. The State of Tripura also has a small

population of elephants, which has a separate migratory pattern

along the Mizoram border or even along the Bangladesh border. The

bulk of the North East elephant population was more or less resident

within the state of Asom, with a set pattern of migratory movements

to and from Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and to some extent to

Nagaland and Manipur. Within the states of Asom, elephants were

primarily concentrated along our contiguous interstate boundary and

reserved forest belt, central Asom hills of Karbi Anglong and NC

Hills and thirdly, along our riverine grassy forests.

 

This elephant population in Asom and other Northeastern states had

been creating problems and hazards to life, property and cultivated

land since decades back. The rule of the land at that time allowed

such problems to be promptly dealt with.

 

Since the last four decades or so, a dramatic and profound change in

the whole elephant landscape in the North East has taken place.

Substantial increase in human population took place all along the

foothills bordering Asom, in Arunachal, Meghalaya and Nagaland. This

has greatly reduced the forest covers along the border and whatever

forest is left is heavily degraded. In short, there is no ideal

forest cover left, particularly in Meghalaya and Nagaland. In

Arunachal there are still some good forest tracts left. Concurrent

to this degradation in the neighbouring states, the contiguous

border forest belt in Asom, which was home to 50-60% of the elephant

population in Asom were subjected to massive onslaught from mainland

Asom side in the form of heavy encroachment, illegal logging etc.

Some good examples of this reckless degradation of prime elephant

habitat in Asom are, for instance, the excellent reserved forests in

Golaghat division, namely Doyang, Diphu and Rengma reserved forests,

which are completely encroached upon. Similarly, Gohpur reserved

forest in Sonitpur East forest division is completely destroyed. The

same was the fate of Gali and Jiadhal reserved forests in the

Dhemaji-Jonai belt. In the neighbouring state of Meghalaya, Garo

Hills had been famous for its elephants. Dinadubii and Rongrangiri

forest belt in the northern part of East and West Garo Hills

districts used to be an excellent elephant abode. In fact, Garo

Hills has two hill ranges, namely Tura range and Arbella range,

which used to be teeming with elephants. Right from the Tura hills

range to the Asom border in Goalpara, vast herds of elephants used

to roam. This excellent elephant habitat is now almost completely

destroyed.

 

Again, in the twin hills districts of Karbi Anglong and NC Hills in

Asom, human population increased manifold and all large and

contiguous elephant habitats were fragmented. In Karbi Anglong, vast

contiguous elephant habitat used to exist along the Kaliyoni and

Yamuna rivers. These belts are considerably fragmented now.

Nevertheless elephants still exist here.

 

The scene is even more pathetic in the NC Hills district, with very

few elephants left in the wild. A small population exists in the

Kruming reserved forests in the western part of the district.

Langting – Mupa reserved forest, which was famous for its elephants

only thirty years back has no resident population of wild elephants

now.

 

With severe damage of habitat in the hills of Karbi Anglong and NC

Hills, the elephants have migrated en masse to the lowlands of Asom

towards the North. Their migration to the hills became more and more

infrequent, resulting in these herds spending more seasonal time in

lowland plains. And here, the forests being not much extensive,

these herds graze upon cultivated lands, preferably paddy crops.

 

Similarly, in all the disrupted elephant migratory landscape, along

the Nagaland border in Sivasagar and Jorhat district, the Meghalaya

border in Kamrup and Goalpara districts and Arunachal border in

Sonitpur and Dhemaji districts, the elephant herds spend almost

their entire seasonal grazing in Asom, with only some short

infrequent regional migrations.

 

In the whole of Asom, I have studied only three intact interstate

migrating routes, where large scale migration takes place. These are

Balipara-Chaiduars- Doimara (Asom-Arunachal) route, Dibrusaikhowa-

Dibang Valley-Dambuk (Asom-Arunachal) route and Upper Dehing RF-

Patkai (Asom-Deomali Arunachal) route. Even in the Balipara-Doimara

route, there are severe interruptions and subsequent man-elephant

conflicts. Apart from this, there are the traditional elephant

migrations along the Asom-Bhutan routes in Manas Tiger reserve and

Chirang district.

 

It is not always necessary that if elephant habitats were destroyed

in the hills and their migratory route altered, they would turn

problematic in the plains of Asom down below. This is proved by the

scenario in the Upper Dehing RF-Patkai elephant migratory route.

These elephants were heavily tormented by the shooting etc. in the

Patkai hills of Khonsa district, particularly in the Namsung Mukh

area. The forest area is already heavily fragmented in the Arunachal

side. In this landscape, when elephants were disturbed in the hills,

they moved down to Asom, and crossing the Dehing river, entered the

Upper Dehing (West block) forest. This forest acts as a large shock

absorber for the vast migratory elephant herds. But such is not the

case in the other areas, particularly in Golaghat, Sivasagar,

Sonitpur, Kamrup and Goalpara etc. Here the forest is already much

reduced or fragmented in the plains and low hills of Asom.

 

Currently in Asom, we have 12 elephant depredation hot spot areas.

They are (1) Sonari and (2) Sorogua area (Desangmukh Panidihing

area) in Sivasagar district. (3) Morangi (Doigurung) and (4) Nambor

North adjoining areas in Golaghat district, (5) Jokhalabandha area

in Nagoan district, (6) Balipara-Charduar area, (7) Jamuguri North

(Charduar RF adjoining areas) and (8) Jamuguri South (Panpur areas)

in Sonitpur district, (9) Lejai-Bamkolakhowa in Dibrugarh district,

(10) Rani-Azara area in Kamrup district, (11) North Goreswar area in

Baksa district and (12) Dhupdhara-Rongjuli-Dodhnoi area in Goalpara

district.

 

So Sivasagar district has two areas, Golaghat district has two

areas, Nagaon district has one area, Sonitpur district has three

areas, Dibrugarh district has one area, Kamrup district has one

area, Baksa district has one area and Goalpara district has one area

of major elephant depredation.

 

Apart from this, we have some stray and sporadic elephant

depredation incidents in different parts of the state, like around

Gibbon Sanctuary in Jorhat district, Merapani area in Golaghat

district, Teok-Amguri area, Sivasagar-Jorhat districts, Nemati-

Janjimukh in Jorhat District, Paneri-Bhotiachang in Udalguri

district, Kuruabahi-Lokhowjan-Rajabari in Golaghat districts. In all

these incidents, the problematic animals are small groups or single

animals.

 

There are elephant depredation problems in Majuli river island as

well. This troublesome herd originally resided and moved about

Gezera Chapori in the eastern part of the island. This herd is an

offshoot group of the two herds that roamed the Desang Mukh-Sorogua

area of Sivasagar and Dehingmuk-Lezai area of Dibrugarh district,

along with some animals from the Subansiri – Khobolu area to the

north near Khogamukh. Currently, this elephant herd is creating

heavy depredation in the Nemati-Janjimukh area of Jorhat district by

crossing over from the Majuli side The vast herd of elephants that

is causing massive depredation in the Lejai-Bamkolakhowa area in

Dibrugarh district is direct evidence and the fallout of the severe

habitat depletion and human population increase in the Arunachal

foothills of adjoining Dhemaji district. The animals of this vast

herd had migrated in small groups along the Tongani river that

originates from the Arunachal foothills. This herd congregated and

grazed about the light forests and grassy areas of Sissi-Sonari area

along the Brahmaputra. Then came the great flooding and subsequent

siltation of all the riverine tracts, light forests and grasslands.

This forced the herd finally to cross over the Brahmaputra in small

groups and embarked on the south bank at Dehingmukh RF north of

Lejai-Bamkolakhowa area. This forest being too small to contain the

vast herd, the herd finally ventured south and west into human

habitations and became a menace to all living there.

 

Now is the time we must ask ourselves what is the solution to this

unprecedented problem, which now seems to concern every organ of our

socio-political bureaucratic machinery. From the highest in the land

to the humblest of the peasants, all are filled with anxiety and

wonder if we really do have a solution to it.

 

Asif Ahmed Hazarika