Pachyderm woes worry villagers in Wokha

Dimapur, July 25 (EMN): Wild elephants entering human habitats in Wokha district have left behind a trail of destruction and fear. The public of stated area is reported to be living in constant fear, community organisations have informed.

A joint press release issued by the chairmen of Old Riphyim Village Council and New Riphyim Village Council, was received here on Wednesday. It stated that wild elephants have damaged paddy fields, and crops in said villages.

They have reported that a herd of about 20 wild Asian elephants was spotted by villagers at an area called Tchukhum, located at a quarry a few kilometres away from a helipad, on the morning of July 23.

The incident is stated to have happened close on the heels of a report by a district committee about the loss of human life and damage to crops and properties by wild animals.

The villages reported that the presence of wild elephants in their only cultivable land and forest was becoming a threat to the lives of the people in the area. It is causing frustration among the farming community of Old and New Riphyim villages, it informed. It was reported that wild elephants had been venturing closer to human settlements every year, and posing a threat to humans and the elephants alike.

A district forest officer said that the area was badly affected. The source informed that the same herd of elephants had been around for a while in the area because there are “many things to eat in the fields,” the source said when contacted.

While acknowledging the plight of the people, the source said it was impossible to ‘take the elephants away in such a terrain.’ It was informed that partial funding was given to the affected farmers from ‘Project Elephant,’ which is a project that caters to elephant reserves.

The officer asserted that the matter was not an ‘elephant menace’ but a ‘human-elephant conflict.’ “There is a need to do a lot more for this issue especially in Wokha as 50% of elephants in Nagaland is in this district,” the source said.

Cultivation and plantations in the vicinity are not safe and piggery and dairy farm projects have been abandoned also because of the fear of elephants, it was informed.

As the majority of the population there are cultivators, it stated, they depend solely on farming and green produce for livelihood. With the crops on the verge of being harvested, there seems to be a growing apprehension among the farmers that their crops would be damaged by the elephants unless the government takes measures, the statement added.

The villagers have appealed to the Nagaland government to offer compensation for the loss caused by the elephants. The authorities have been urged to assess the impact of the issue on farmers.

In the country, it is informed that nearly 350 deaths occur every year due to man-elephant conflict. According to a report of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, over 12000 hectares were reportedly damaged during 2013-14.

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