WWF acts on Nepal Elephant issue

[Guest guest]

Govt rushes team, to apply pressure on Kathmandu

 

Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay, TNN 13 July 2009,

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS-City-Kolkata-Govt-rushes-team-to-apply-p\

ressure-on-Kathmandu/articleshow/4770592.cms

 

KOLKATA/KATHMANDU: Faced with recurrent incidents of firing on elephants

across the border in Nepal, the state government has adopted a two-prong

strategy: stop and divert herds headed to Nepal and put diplomatic pressure

on the neighbour to stop the mindless killing.

 

The Nepal chapter of World Wildlife Fund (WWF-Nepal) is also urging both

governments to start talks at the local level to resolve the annual problem.

 

 

On Sunday, the state's chief wildlife warden S Mondal rushed to north Bengal

to assess the situation. " We are trying to find an effective solution of the

problem. It has already been taken up with the ministry of external affairs

to initiate a dialogue with Nepal on this issue. Rerouting the herd is an

option, " said principal secretary (forest) K S Rajendra Kumar.

 

A senior state forest department officer said, " We are going to meet union

minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh on July 24 with all the

documents of previous attacks on elephant herds in Nepal. At the meeting,

the final course of action would be decided. "

 

The officer, however, is not sure about the efficacy of forcible diversion

of herds. Disturbing the elephant corridor may create distress among the

animals. The pachyderms may even go on the rampage if if they are not

allowed to move beyond India.

 

" Earlier, we brought foresters, who are used to driving away herds

effectively, from Bankura to north Bengal. But it was not that effective.

Elephants in Bankura are used to such diversions. But in north Bengal the

topography is completely different. The forest department is in touch with

NGOs in Nepal, who pass on confirmation if a herd is attacked, " said an

official.

 

" The drive to block the elephant movement stems from the fear that if they

cross the border and enter Nepal, the animals might be shot at or poisoned

by villagers. There were such incidents in the past, " said Animesh Bose, the

coordinator of the Siliguri-based Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation.

There were at least 10 guards who had gone to drive the herd back into the

Indian territory around 12 pm. " We were being helped by 200-odd villagers,

when we saw some police vehicles, flashing red beacons, approaching the road

across the Mechi, " said a guard.

 

On the other hand, authorities in Nepal feel that the problem of elephant

incursion has to be seen in perspective. In early July, due to the plains of

Assam being flooded, herds began crossing the open border and poured into

the Bahundangi area of Nepal's Jhapa district. There were about 200

pachyderms and they played havoc with the crop in an area of nearly 20

hectare.

 

The villagers, living under the threat of a lean monsoon, were enraged at

the devastation. On July 7, the anger reached the boiling point as 23 of the

beasts stayed back while the rest returned to the Indian side. The animals

blocked the road to the fields and prevented farmers from ploughing the

land. The villagers approached police, who were forced to fire to scare away

the herd. Though they took care to fire in the air a fact that Nepal says is

borne out by the footage of a local TV channel that covered the incident one

of the elephants turned back and charged the crowds, causing a stampede-like

situation.

 

What is ominous is that elephant incursion is fanning anti-India sentiments.

" Elephants have been following this migration trail for centuries, " says

Santosh Nepal, special policy and programme coordinator at WWF-Nepal. " But

the villagers feel the herds are being deliberately pushed into Nepal by

Indian authorities. "