Tamar (Ranchi): As dusk descends on Narsingh Lowadih village in the Tamar range of the Khunti forest division, around 15 km from the Ranchi-Tata national highway 33, Ghaltu Mahto (45) gets ready for vigil. He climbs onto a makeshift bamboo platform built on a tree near his vegetable garden, carrying fire torches, kerosene-dipped jute balls tucked on a stick, and food.Ghaltu and many like him spend nights guarding their fields from elephants throughout the cropping season.“Elephants from the nearing forest areas often enter into the villages in Tamar range in search of food. The farmers try to drive them away so that no significant harm can be caused to the farm produce,” Ghaltu, a former forest guard on contract, said.Locals light small fires, make noises, or burst firecrackers to guide the jumbos away. They also erect electrical fences around gardens.Villagers said the area, once untouched by elephant movement, has been reporting frequent visits by herds during the crop season each year since around 2003. Despite this, they have managed to maintain a peaceful coexistence with the jumbos.For the locals, elephant movement has become predictable over the years, allowing them to plan activities around what they call elephant hours.Locals restrict movement near forested stretches during these hours, and children are taught basic safety routines. Hence, no causalities have been reported in the region on either side so far, villagers claimed.Misila Devi (27) of Jojodih village said elephants usually enter the area between 5 pm and 9 pm and between 2 am and 3 am.“They come for vegetables, especially potatoes as the potato fields lie close to a forest area that runs through the village. Elephants mostly remain on the other side of the channel. People have kept residential areas on this side and avoid moving to the forest side,” she explained.Wildlife expert D S Srivastava attributed unavailability of food, shelter and water for the jumbos in the forests and defragmentation of forest cover in their natural corridors, for their frequent visit to the human settlements. “It has now become a universal problem everywhere,” he stated.In Tamar region, the elephants venture out of Ayodhya hill from West Bengal. From the hills they entire Tamar forest crossing the NH 33. Between 2003 to 2005, rapid destruction of forest areas took place due to mining activities in the Saranda forests and that has compelled the elephants move out of their natural habitat,” Srivastava added.Meanwhile villagers of Jojodih and Narsingh Lowadih alleged that they receive little help from the forest department in driving away the elephants. Responding to the allegations, Khunti divisional forest officer Dileep Kumar Yadav told TOI, “The villagers are provided with torches and fire crackers sometimes to drive the elephants. As far as deploying forest guards in the villages is concerned, the department has a shortage of workforce which restricts regular deployment of the guards in the village.”
