Hazaribag: The movements of the elephant, which killed two men and injured a woman in the district since December 8, will now be monitored round the clock in a bid to prevent further casualties and damages to properties.Deputy commissioner Shashi Prakash Singh on Saturday chaired an emergency meet to review the human-elephant conflict. At the meeting, it was decided to deploy a trainee Indian Forest Service (IFS) office as the nodal officer of the district control room to keep track on elephant movement for timely dissemination of information for public safety.“The control room will function round the clock. Information regarding elephant movement will be shared with the control room by officials and residents, and alerts will be immediately passed on to village heads and locals for timely precautionary measures,” said Singh.Officials also outlined a list of dos and don’ts for the public. In the advisory, locals were asked to avoid running in a straight line if chased by elephants, remain alert after sunset and avoid moving in the areas where elephants have been spotted. “If elephants enter villages, groups of 8 to 10 people may attempt to drive them away using torches and loud noise, while maintaining a safe distance. Farmers guarding fields from watchtowers were advised to build them high on strong trees and keep a fire burning on the ground below,” read the advisory.People were also asked not to offer food grains or store liquor such as mahua in elephant-affected areas, as elephants are attracted to it. Residents were advised to avoid wearing white or red clothes while attempting to drive elephants away.DC also instructed the electricity department to maintain safe and uninterrupted power supply in elephant movement zones and asked officials to keep elephant corridors encroachment-free and clean. That apart, a public awareness van was also flagged off by Hazaribag MLA Pradip Prasad to disseminate the information in rural areas where human-elephant conflicts are now a regular affair.West forest division officer Maun Prakash said, “Creating awareness among locals is crucial to reduce damage caused by elephants. We have also urged all circle officers to ensure time-bound disposal of pending compensation claims so that those suffer damage can get early fiscal help.”The DFO also appealed people to download ‘Hamar Haathi 2.0’, a govt App to get real-time information on elephant locations.
