Udalguri village finds ‘banana solution’ to elephant menace

GUWAHATI: Desperate villagers along the India-Bhutan border in Udalguri district have found a way to stop wild elephant herds from devastating their agricultural lands and homesteads — by arranging banana plants for the jumbos to feed on. However, forest officials and conservation experts say while this might be an effective short-term solution to the problem of man-elephant conflicts, it might lead to bigger problems in the long run.

Udalguri district is one of the areas in the state most prone to human-elephant conflicts, with there being casualties on both sides every year. Elephant herds from Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh often descend on the villages here with the onset of the paddy harvest season.

At least five elephants and six persons have been killed here this year alone. While most human casualties come about when herds trample on villagers, elephants die by poisoning, electrocution or falling into deep ditches.

A local conservation activist, Nabajyoti Baruah, along with other villagers, are on a drive to grow and collect banana plants here. “In the early part of November, when a 100-strong elephant herd came to the Hatigor area, people were really scared. The herd broke into smaller herds and dispersed in different directions. The area is mostly tea garden area, and elephants started entering into narrow alleys of villages in search of food. We thought why not arrange banana plants so that elephants can feed on them without venturing into the villages,” Baruah said.

Francis Tanti, a resident of Hatigor, said people from different areas have come on board with the plan and started collecting banana plants in large numbers. “Baruah, along with others, started collecting banana plants from different parts of Udalguri on tractors. The banana plants were put at a place far from human settlements. After feeding on the banana plants, the elephants left the area. This strategy helped,” Tanti said.

However, forest officials and other conservation experts are not enthusiastic about this strategy, saying it might increase conflicts if the elephants get used to ‘pre-arranged fodder’.

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