ASSAM: Tuskers damage crops in Sivasagar district

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Tuskers damage crops in Sivasagar district

From Our Correspondent

SIVASAGAR, Nov 19 – With shrinkage of Golaghat habitat due to

unrestrained and illegal settlement of land hungry people in all

reserved forests areas in Sivasagar district, wild elephants have

started causing extensive damages to standing crops and properties

besides killing four in this season in Sonari subdivision so far.

 

A herd of about 60 wild elephants entered Aphala, Mojarbari,

Lakhimpur, Chitola etc. areas of Desangmukh three days back and

destroyed crops along a four kilometre area including other vegetation

adding to their woes after a drought like situation last summer.

 

A group of villagers met the Deputy Commissioner, Dr K K Dwivedi later

and urged him to take immediate steps.

 

DFO, Sivasagar, AC Sarma told this correspondent that forest officials

in separate groups have been trying to change away the hand with

crackers blank firing and with the help of the villagers. But the

problems refused to disappear as the herd once chased away from

Desungmukh proceeds towards Dikhowmukh down stream or enters

Panidihing mauza in the last. Last year during harvesting season, the

herd trampled to death one Akon Gogoi (40) a and damaged innumerable

houses and granaries in Rupanore, Chingadohi, Outoli, Palengi it

villages under Panidihing mouza.

 

Forest deptt officials here say that they do not have adequate

provisions to tackle the elephant menace which is increasing every

year they have also not received a single pie from Project Elephant

being implemented in the State. In spite of paucity of fund Rs 500.

each has been given to the next of kin of the victims Lakesman Ganda,

Rajiv Ganda, Bajit Praja and others under Sonari PS.

 

It may be mentioned here that providing or Moharani RF (3420 Sr

hectares), Sola RF (700 sq hectares) Sapekhati RF (800 Sq hectares)

Deroi Rangoli RF (4776 sq hectares) Delhi RF (3108 sq hectares),

Geleki RF (5137) sq hectare) and Abhayapore RF (6138 sq hectare) in

Sivasagar district comprise part of the elephant corridor that

connects the forested hills of Arunachal Pradesh in the north east and

the hills of Nagaland and beyond used by elephants since a million

years back. But all these forests are denuded now.

 

The government's half- hearted approach to the problems of

man-elephant conflict and purely populist and short sighted policies

of some Left parties that patronising the illegal encroachers and

settlers on forest land in the district and the forest departments

total in difference and callous attitude towards the plight of

wildlife in the region have compounded the problem.

 

Central government is in most cases kept in the dark regarding

implementation of the Forest and Wildlife Acts.