Power fencing mulled to ward off wild elephants

Bappaditya Paul, The Statesman

November 16, 2008

SILIGURI, Nov. 16: Unable to check the recurrent wild elephant raids on the fringe villages by patrolling alone, the Baikanthapur forest division in Jalpaiguri district is mulling a plan for erecting energised fencing around the villages with help from the civil administration and other local governing bodies.
The forest division has identified nine such villages, which are prone to the pachyderm raids. But on account of being ‘revenue villages’, all of these are deprived of the regular forest aids for protection against the menace. According to the DFO Baikanthapur, Mr Sailesh Anand, of the six forest ranges lying under the division, currently only two are having the energised fencing in place. This is even as the menace is prevalent all across and the forest staffs often find it tough to manage the situation.

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