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Haridwar areas face jumbo threat
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Elephants stray from Rajaji Naitonal park to sugarcane fields. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, November 1
With the winter season setting in, there has been a sudden spurt in the number of incidents of elephants straying into residential areas on the outskirts of Rajaji National Park in Haridwar and wreaking havoc in the fields besides scaring away humans and animals.

Over the past few days, several incidents of crop damage by elephants have been reported from various villages and suburban areas in the area.

Sources say all this is because of elephants’ moving to different places in search of their favourite food, sugarcane. The movement will continue throughout the winter season. Till then, people of the area will have to live in the fear of tuskers wreaking havoc in their fields, destroying property and even threatening their lives, they say.

Several hectares of sugarcane fields have been ravaged by jumbos over the past two days. Many farmers have even cut their crops prematurely so as to save these from being ravaged by elephants.

Several incidents of jumbos injuring pet animals have also been reported from villages like Jagjeetpur, Missirpur, Katarpur, Pathri, Dhanauri, Ferupur, Chandpur, Kota Muradnagar, Telliwala, Bishanpur Kundi, Shyampur and Laldhang. Forest scientists relate this behavioural pattern among jumbos to their mating season.

Wildlife expert Dr Ritesh Joshi says this is the season when human-elephant confrontation possibility is more and everyone needs to be aware of this fact.

Jaypal Saini of Missirpur village says the incidents of jumbos destroying crops and on some occasions even charging towards human settlements have created fear in the hearts of villagers. They are even contemplating to discontinue cultivating sugarcane if the authorities are not able to check elephant movement in their areas, he says.

Forest officer KS Rawat said the Forest Department was taking the issue seriously and patrolling had been increased to check elephant movement in the affected areas. He, however, admitted that a lot more constructive steps were needed to stop jumbo intrusion completely. Construction of walls to block entry of jumbos into residential areas could go a long way in bringing the situation under control, he added.