40,000kg of paddy grown on 50 bighas of land bordering forest, to feed elephants in Jhargram
40,000kg of paddy grown on 50 bighas of land bordering forest, to feed
elephants in Jhargram
Debraj Mitra, Telegraph India
September 30, 2024
The land was tilled in February. The seeds were sown in March. The first
crop was seen in April. Then came the jumbos who gobbled it all up.
In a pocket of Jhargram, around 40,000kg of paddy was grown on 50 bighas of
land bordering the forest. But not for humans. The cultivation was done so
that the elephants straddling the forests can eat the crop.
In south Bengal, the jumbos routinely raid the fringe villages because the
forests lack enough food. People die, farmlands are ravaged and homes are
damaged in the raids. Elephants have also been killed in retaliation, by
death traps like live wires. Villagers often organise unregulated hulla
parties, using flaming torches and cannon balls to drive away elephants in
violation of court orders.
The cultivation near Rehara forest in Jhargram’s Jamboni block is part of a
pilot project that foresters and wildlife experts said could be expanded to
other parts of the state.
The project also includes the installation of solar fencing, planting
saplings known to be elephant fodder and compensating villagers for crops
lost in elephant raids.
“We leased around 50 bighas of land from some 30-odd families. The lease
period was January to June. Between April-end and May-end, elephants came
to the paddy fields for 28 days. Sometimes in groups and sometimes in
smaller numbers,” said Suvrajyoti Chatterjee for Human and Environment
Alliance League, an NGO steering the project.
The NGO shared with this newspaper camera footage showing elephants
visiting the new farmlands — located strategically within or near elephant
ranges — at night and day.
“The 50 bighas leased from villagers border the forest. The villagers were
not too keen to cultivate the land for fear of elephants, especially in the
dry months of summer and winter, when the resources are scant inside the
forests. As a result, the frequency of the raids goes up. In monsoon, when
the forets are more bountiful, the raids are rare,” said Meghna Banerjee of
HEAL.
Despite the cultivation, some farmlands closer to the human settlements
were still raided by the jumbos as they travelled from one forest to
another. The land owners were compensated for the loss. They were not given
money but paddy seeds.
“A total of 8,574kg of paddy grains were distributed among 136
beneficiaries,” says the project report, which has been shared with the
forest department.
Solar fencing has been installed along a 5km stretch, bordering six
villages — Bhursan, Kuraria, Malbandi, Kendangri, Telamuri and Choto
Kuraria — to provide safety against elephant intrusion.
The project has produced results, said residents.
“Even last year, we suffered because of multiple elephant raids. But this
year, the number has gone down sharply. Solar fencing has reduced our fear.
More people are now willing to lease their land to cultivate paddy for the
elephants,” said Chunaram Hansda, a resident of Malbandi village.
The annual administrative report in 2020-21 published by the forest
department points to 14 human deaths in Jhargram. The department is yet to
publish the subsequent annual reports on its website.
Sources said the total number of deaths by elephants in Jhargram was 24 in
2022-23 and 17 in 2023-24.
In the second week of August, an elephant — one of five that strayed into
Jhargram town — was killed after being speared by a burning iron rod,
apparently by a member of a hula party.
The long-term step in the latest pilot in Jhargram, which aims to mitigate
this conflict, is plantation of saplings along the forest borders.
More than 13,000 saplings have already been planted along elephant
corridors. They belong to a list of 19 species, which are preferred by
elephants and can thrive in the local ecosystem. The species include java
plum, jackfruit, mahua, wood apple, Indian beech and custard apple.
The saplings are expected to grow into edible trees in around three years.
“We aim to replicate this model on a larger scale, expanding our reach to
other conflict-prone regions and addressing the complex issue of
human-elephant conflict,” said Chatterjee.
The project is part of the CSR initiative of Coforge, a digital services
and solutions provider.
A senior forest official lauded the Jhargram project saying it could be a
model but insisted on investment from the private sector.
“We are already installing solar fencing at multiple places on our own. The
regular plantation drives inside forests now include a majority of species
that are elephant fodder. But we have a resource crunch. The participation
of the private sector provides momentum to this work,” said the official.
Debal Ray, the chief wildlife warden of Bengal, told The Telegraph: “I have
received a copy of the project report in Jamboni. The initial findings are
encouraging. But a detailed study is needed before the steps can be
replicated elsewhere”.