Kozhikode: As a measure to ward off wild animals from farmlands close to forests, a farmers’ collective has urged the Forest Department to build fences using obsolete railway tracks.
Members of ‘We Farm’, the newly formed collective comprising nearly 700 families from Kozhikode district, are of the view that abandoned railway tracks can be procured at cheaper rate, and that they will last longer than weak solar fences. They also claim that it is the most viable option for hilly terrains where construction of granite walls, as proposed by the Forest Department, will be expensive, not to mention the long time lag.
“It is possible to construct a 1-km-long steel fence at a cost of around ₹80 lakh in vulnerable areas. The proposed granite wall will cost at least ₹1.25 crore,” says Bose Vattamattom, convener of the collective. According to him, the Forest Department can easily initiate talks with the Railways to procure the stock from Erode, where it is lying idle.
Farmers are of the opinion that timely construction of the granite wall is impractical in interior areas owing to poor road connectivity. Either the Forest Department should construct a road or entirely give up the project. Even to construct a small wall, the department has to procure huge stocks of granite, which is not at all practical given the restrictions on quarrying and shortage of labour, they argue.
Joseph Illikkal and Joy Kannanchira, office-bearers of the collective, say farmers themselves can contribute the required labour if the department secures green signal for the proposal. “The dismantled tracks can be cut into manageable sizes and easily taken to the construction site. It can be quickly fixed on concrete pillars. Only simple welding work is needed to complete the whole process,” they point out.
Farmers of Chakkittappara panchayat, where wild animal menace is rampant, say that acres of farm land under the possession of the Peruvannamoozhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra too can be protected using cost-effective fencing. Chembanod, Poozhithod, and Peruvannamoozhi areas can be chosen in the first phase to conduct trial, they add.
