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SUNDAY HINDUSTAN TIMES, MUMBAIAUGUST 31, 2014 15|

ELEPHANT ATTACKS: THE TOLL

13people have been killed inMaharashtras Sindhudurg andKolhapur districts since 2002

21people have beeninjured in the sameperiod

11,000complaints of crop damage havebeen reported across both districts

`10 crorehas been paid out in compensationby the state forest department, inthe xx years since it framed acompensation policy for such cases

Wild elephants have chargedinto Maharashtra, a state with nohistory of pachyderms, driven here

by shrinking habitats in Karnataka.They are now trampling villagers anddestroying fields. A ground report

AT LOGGERHEADSIN ANUTSHELL

The elephantscame here from

Karnataka asthe populationincreased aroundtheir habitatthere. This isthe first man-elephant conflictin the state in40 years, theperiod for whichwe have systema-tised records.

Praveen Pardeshi,principal secre-tary (Forests),Maharashtra

I rememberwhen we firstbegan to see wildelephants in thearea. We wouldtake our childrento the edgesof our farmsto watch themgo past. We no

longer do this.Now, most of usdont go out afterdark. We live infear for our livesand our fields.

Sanjay Sawant,40,a residentof Vados villagein Sindhudurg,whose uncle wastrampled to deathin April

Over time,unexpectedbehaviour fromhumans can makeelephants aggres-sive, and I believethat is where westand today, inKudal and otherregions of Mahar-ashtra that arenew to hosting

pachyderms.Surendra Varma,research scientistwith Asian Na-ture ConservationFoundation

The elephants that have chargedinto Maharashtra come from theshrinking forest areas aroundDandeli sanctuary in NorthKannada district, Karnataka.

Between 1944 and 1990 alone,six dams were constructed inthis region Supa, Kodsali,Bommanhalli, Kadra, UpperKaneri and Tattihalla sub-merging a total of 13,990 hec-tares of forest land.

The Linganmakki Dam built inthe 1960s had already blockedthe migratory path south toMysore. The elephants hadnowhere to go but north.

For a while, they survivedinthe forested areas of Dharwaddistrict. But a drought there in2002 forced them further north,and into Maharashtra.

By November 2004, there werereports of 22 wild elephants inMaharashtras Sindhudurg andKolhapur districts.

In that year, the state forestdepartment launched a repatri-ation drive, calling in trainedelephants to guide the wildones back to Karnataka. Thisdrive was only partially suc-

cessful mainly because theregion from which they wan-dered can no longer support alarge number of pachyderms. InMaharashtra, on the otherhand, farmlands offer a varietyof high-sugar foods such asmangoes, cashew apples, jack-fruits, bananas and areca nut.

Unable to rid the region of theelephants,the governmentinstituted a compensation poli-cy in 2004, with sums rangingfrom Rs 2,400 for a felled coco-nut tree to Rs 5 lakh for thefamily of an elephant fatality.

A MAMMOTH ISSUE

ELEPHANT ATTACKS: THE TOLL

13people have been killed inMaharashtras Sindhudurg andKolhapur districts since 2002

21people have been injuredin the same period

11,000complaints of crop damage havebeen reported across both districts

`10 crorehas been paid out in compensationby the state forest department, inthe 10 years since it framed acompensation policy for such cases

F

OCUS

200kgthe average

daily food intakeof an Asianelephant

Dodamarg

Kudal

MAHARASHTRA

Chandgad

Dandeli sanctuary

KARNATAKA

Maharashtra is not the only state facing a first-of-its-kindman-elephant conflict.

Currently, about 600 elephants across the country havestrayed from their natural habi-tats, affecting human populationsin parts of Tamil Nadu, Jharkhandand Andhra Pradesh, saysSurendra Varma, a research scien-tist with Asian NatureConservation Foundation.

In most cases,they have beenforced out of their natural habitatby infrastructure projects oragricultural activity.

(Right to left)Vijaya Jadhav, 45,a Sindhudurgvillager trampledby a wild elephantin June and nowparalysed waist-down, is visited inhospital by her twochildren; treesdestroyed on afarm in Kudalregion; a warning

sign in Nivje villagein Sindhudurg; awild elephant inUttara Kannadadistrict inKarnataka.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, MORE THAN 600 ELEPHANTS HAVE STRAYED FROM HABITATS,

AFFECTING HUMAN POPULATIONS IN TAMIL NADU, JHARKHAND & ANDHRA PRADESH

PHOTOS:

THINKSTOCK

government must buy our farmlands andconvert this area into a sanctuary, he says.Then the elephants can live peacefully andso can we, if t he government helps us findanother source of income.

Local politicians have been suggestingthis for some time now. Another knee-jerksolution came from a senior-level official

who suggested pruning all trees to a heightof less than 40 ft, because he believed thecause of the elephants increased aggres-sion was their inability to get at the fruit.

PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS

Experts say the real reason for the ele-

phant attacks is far more complex.The fact is that it is neither safe nor natu-

ral for elephants and human beings to beliving in such close proximity, says researchscientist Surendra Varma. The villagersin these areas are not used to having wildelephants around, so they dont know whatthey should or should not do. As a result,they tend to throw things at the elephant

if they want him to get off the road or findhim eating their crops. This can disturbhim. Staring directly at an elephant or theabrupt flash of a cellphone camera cancause trouble too. Over time, unexpectedbehaviour from humans can make the ele-phants aggressive, and I believe that is wherewe stand today, in Kudal and other regions of

Maharashtra new to pachyderms.Adds Mehta: Until they find a per-

manent solution, the forest departmentshould educate people on how to behavearound an elephant.

The forest department now plans to callin a trained elephant from Karnataka totry and help tame the elephants, which will

most likely then be put to work, says Rao,chief cons ervation officer for Sindhudurgand Kolhapur districts.

Meanwhile, the standoff cause anothercasualty in June, when 45-year-old VijayaJadhav of Ghanvale village, mother of t wo,was attacked on her way home from her jobas a labourer at a cashew factory, at 6.30 am.

As her horrified children watched, theelephant picked her up with its trunk,crushed her around the waist and threwher to the ground. Jadhav is now complete-ly paralysed from the waist down.

The government gave me Rs 1 lakh ascompensation, but that was spent a longtime ago. I had to go all the way to Goa for

treatment, she says. The family now hasjust one earning member, Vijayas husband,a daily wage earner paid Rs 100 per shift.

In addition to supporting themselves,

the family is worried about how they willafford the shift that they are planning.

Our house is not safe anymore, saysVijaya. Our four neighbours have already

fled the area and now live on rent in oth-ers houses. My husband is trying to finda rented house too, but we dont know howwell afford one.

Riddhi Doshi riddhi.doshi@hindustantimes.com

First the concrete road is lost to theoverflowing Nivje River; then the

slippery trail disappears underovergrown forest vegetation.

The sounds of waterfalls,birds, frogs and crickets are losttoo, to the sheaths of rain slash-ing the red mud and the greens.Eventually, the only sound is thewailing of a 65-year-old mother.

Bhagirathi Bute lies curled up on amat laid out on the mud floor of her one-room home in Nivje village near Kudal,in Maharashtras lush coastal district ofSindhudurg. She has been breaking intobouts of depression and inconsolable sob-bing over the past two months, ever since

the death of her son.Baburao Bute, 48, a farmer and the only

earning member of his family, was killedby a wild elephant on July 7.

He left behind a wife, sixchildren, and Bhagirathi.Killed by an elephantnever in our dreams

would we haveimagined such athing, says his sonSwapnil, 21.

Wild elephantswere unheard of inSindhudurg untilnot so long ago.

These are thefirst wild elephantsin recorded historyto make the state theirhabitat, says SurendraVarma, a research sci-

entist with AsianNature ConservationFoundation whospecialises inelephant behaviour.Their straying intoMaharashtra and the recent spate oftramplings and killings marks the firstever man-elephant conflict here.

A total of 22 wild elephants came toMaharashtra from northern Karnatakabetween 2002 and 2004, as their habitatwas gradually submerged by dams andoverrun by a growing population inUttara Kannada, adds Maharashtra prin-cipal secretary (Forests and Revenue)Praveen Pardeshi.

The elephant that killed Baburao is oneof t hree that now live in the 16 villagesaround Kudal. Over the past five monthsalone, they have killed three people andinjured two others a number that hasrisen from an average of one death a yearbetween 2002 and 2013.

In all, the wild pachyderms have killed13 people and injured 21 since they moved

into the state from their natural habitatin Karnataka 12 years ago, says MK Rao,chief conservation officer for Sindhudurgand Kolhapur districts.

The elephants have also caused a total of11,000 recorded instances of crop damage

across these two districts, with the forestdepartment paying out a total ofRs 10 crore in compensation for damagesand loss of lif e, adds Rao. Meanwhile, atotal of 10 elephants have died in the state.

THE ELEPHANT TRAIL

The elephants that have charged into

Maharashtra come from the shrinking for-est areas around Dandeli sanctuary in theUttara Kannada district of Karnataka.

Between 1944 and 1990 alone, six damswere constructed in this region Supa,Kodsali, Bommanhalli, Kadra, Upper Kaneriand Tattihalla submerging a total of 13,990

hectares of forest land in the region.The construction of the Linganmakki

Dam in Shimoga district of Karnataka hadalready blocked the migratory path southto Mysore in the 1960s. The elephants had

nowhere to go but north.For a while, they survived in the forested

areas of Dharwad district . But a droughtthere in 2002 forced them further north,and into Maharashtra. By November 2004,there were reports of 22 wild elephantshaving strayed into MaharashtrasSindhudurg and Kolhapur districts.

In 2004, the Maharashtra forest depart-

ment launched a repatriation drive, usingtrained elephants to guide the wild ones backto Karnataka. This drive was only partiallysuccessful mainly because the region fromwhich they wandered here can no longersupport a large number of pachyderms. InMaharashtra, on the other hand, carefullytended farmlands offer a variety of high-

sugar foods such as mangoes, cashew apples,jackfruits, bananas and areca nut.

Unable to rid the region ofthe elephants, the govern-

ment framed a compen-sation plan for damag-

es and deaths causedby elephant, via a

GR or governmentresolution issuedin 2004, with com-pensation rangingfrom Rs 2,400 fora felled coconut

tree to Rs 5 lakhto the family of an

elephant fatality.The shift has

brought bad news for theelephants too. Their new,

sugar-rich diet causesobesity and arthritis,says Varma. And a studytitled Man-elephant con-

flict in Sindhudurg andKolhapur, conducted

by Prachi Mehta of NGO Wildlife Researchand Conservation Society, states that a totalof 13 wild elephants have died from malnu-trition, injuries and infections in the statebetween 2002 and 2013.

The scattering of populations also

affects breeding, disturbing the lifecycle.

CASUALTIES ON

BOTH SIDES

For locals, the elephants have gone frombeing a novelty to a nightmare. I rememberwhen we first began to see the wild elephantsin the area. We would take our children tothe edges of our farms to watch them go past.We were fascinated, says Sanjay Sawant, 40,a resident of Vados village.

Sawant and his family no longer rush

towards the animals. My 70-year-old uncle,

Sitaram Parab, was crushed to death inApril, he says. There was no head left onhis corpse, just a mess of bones. Most of thevillage no longer goes out after dark becausewe are all too afraid of being trampled.

Sawants neighbours have faced devasta-tion too, though of a different kind.

For two years, my paddy fields andbanana, coconut and cashew trees havebeen destroyed by the elephants. Theyeat the fruits and trample the paddy. Asa result I have all but stopped farming,says Sawant. I have taken to cleaningcashew nuts at home to feed my family offive. My 40-guntha farm used to feed my

family and earn us Rs 90,000 a year. Now Ijust make Rs 40,000.

With a population of 8,000 in the 16 villag-es around Kudal facing the same situation,Sawant says its time for radical solutions.Either the elephants must be shot or the

A female elephant and her calf inUttara Kannada district in Karnataka.

PHOTOS COURTESY

PRACHI MEHTA &

MAHARASHTRA FOREST

DEPARTMENT;

HT PHOTOS: VIDYA

SUBRAMANIAN

INDIA