The locals named him ‘Chillikkomban’, a reference to his pointed tusk. Along with ‘Hosekomban’, named thus because a water hose had got stuck to his tusk, he used to be a regular presence in the Mattupetty area of Munnar. They would saunter through the estate roads to reach Kundala to quench their thirst. On Monday, the 25-year-old darling of the people met with a tragic death, reportedly due to internal bleeding on being hit with the sharp grabbers of an earth mover operated by an over-enthusiastic young man, after a stand-off between the lone tusker and the workers of the Chenduvarai estate lasting hours.
The death of the majestic tusker who used to rule the undulating Munnar hills till then is the latest instance of human-animal conflicts in areas bordering the State’s dwindling forest tracts and fast deteriorating buffer zones.
It is a conflict that has taken a heavy toll on both sides and Idukki district has been a key theatre of this battle for survival between the animal population and the predominantly farmer human population. With a large buffer zone of tea and cardamom estates, the district has recorded the highest number of attacks by wild animals in the State. This is partially attributed to the shrinkage in forest area and an increase in elephant population. Shortage of fodder and water in the core forest areas could not but result in increased raids by wild elephants into human inhabited areas. Besides causing extensive destruction of crops in large areas, the intruding elephants have been showing a tendency to stay on posing a grave threat to human life.
Going by unofficial estimates, there are nearly 70 wild elephants in the plantation and agriculture areas of Munnar and Marayur alone. This spurt in the number of animals in cultivated areas makes life difficult for those dependent on farming. Worse is the condition of plantation workers who are faced with constant threat of intruding elephants. They cannot leave their estate lines and many have accidentally found themselves on the path of wild elephants, with tragic consequences. It is quite difficult to spot elephants once night falls as the narrow paths that snake through the plantations are enveloped in darkness. Life in the plantations, especially in Devikulam taluk, has turned worse with the monsoon. The number of elephant attacks considerably increased this year resulting in human casualties.
An important factor that forces wild elephants to come out of the forest habitats is the sharp fall in fodder and drinking water availability owing to changes in climate patterns. Though it is normal for the number of wild elephants reaching human residential areas to go up with the onset of the monsoon season, this year there was a sharp spurt in their number, said an official of the Marayur Sandalwood Division of the State Forest Department. The elephants come to eat jackfruits, plantain and sugarcane during the season, he said, and added that the increased violence reported is due to disturbance to their habitats. The shortage in the rainfall has affected the forest ecosystem and the temperature too has been rising, making it inconvenient for their peaceful existence.
Rising casualties
In the past 12 years, 18 persons fell prey to wild elephant attacks in Devikulam taluk alone. Assignment of land to the landless, especially in Chinnakanal village, had aggravated the situation. Nobody seemed to care that the land that was being assigned to the landless formed part of an elephant corridor. Many of the beneficiaries had to abandon their houses and the same is the case with many living in other areas where people have been resettled under various government schemes. Rampant encroachments into forestland and and the spike in construction activities in the area too have hit the peaceful movement of wild elephants in search of food and water, forcing them to move into human settlements, often instilling fear in the minds of the people and clamour for tough measures that go against all principles of justice to these beautiful creatures of the wild.
Forest officials have been insisting on various factors being considered when allotting forestland or land in buffer zones to the landless. However, due to political pressure, these guidelines were often flouted. For generations, the elephants have been using the same paths to move to water sources. If its movement gets obstructed by a fenced farm or a building, the animal would turn violent. On many occasions, the forest officials have had to intervene when antisocial elements provoked the jumbos throwing beer bottles and stones to chase them away. There were also instances of sharp iron materials placed beneath the dried leaves on elephant path to harm them. Such actions have often resulted in violent attack on human beings, the officials said.
The Anayirangal dam near Munnar is the main drinking water source of wild elephants in nearby areas. Situated inside the tea plantations, it is one place where repeated attacks by wild elephants have been reported. The water has now receded to the bed of the catchment. Despite its importance as a key watering hole of the elephants, a boat service for tourists was launched here by the Tourism Department in association with the grama panchayat. The Devikulam Divisional Forest Office has moved the government with a report seeking stern measures to stop the boating service at Anayirangal, but so far to no avail.
Boat service
In the report, the forest authorities have pointed out that the boat service is causing serious disturbance to the tranquillity of the place and contaminating the water in the dam, which is still during large parts of the year. Since there is no steady flow, the oil that boats spew out gets collected in the dam, which is small in size, and is ingested by the animals. The boats also cause serious disturbance to them. Wild elephants are known for using only clean waters for drinking and, therefore, the oil spill into the still waters would harm the wild animals in the long run.
The planting practices of the social forestry wing of the Forest Department too have been causing severe strain to the survival of the wild elephants. Thorny bamboo has been planted in an entire area in the Adimaly range close to Mankulam making the movement of elephants difficult. This is being cited by environmental enthusiasts as one reason for the migration of wild elephants from there to the Mankulam settlement areas. The grown up thorny bamboo will reduce the area under cane bamboo, which is used as fodder by wild elephants.
The main settlements in Mankulam that come under constant wild elephant attacks are Pampukayam Kozhiyilakudy, Ambatham Mile, Puthukudy, Veliyamrakudy and Plamalakudy (Adimaly range) and Kodakallududi. People in about 15 settlements in Mankulam live in fear of wild elephant attacks. There are a few wild elephants that mostly prefer to stay in the plantation and residential areas of Munnar. The Mattupetty dam and the Indo-Swiss project areas are their favourable haunts. They only occasionally disappear into the core forest. They migrate to the greener areas in search of food and water and in such cases chasing them away into the forest may not be successful as chances of their returning are quite high.
“Why is it that we do not bother about the level of human intrusion into the elephants’ habitats when we discuss the human-wildlife conflict? Devikulam taluk is the worst affected region in terms human intervention in the ecosystem comprising shola forest, grasslands and marshy land. The changes that have come about in the forest ecosystem should be taken into consideration when trying to address the issue of the constant migration of wild elephants into human inhabited areas,” said Kannan, a mountaineer and environmentalist.
Weather changes
A large area near the eastern side of the Western Ghats has already become an almost rain shadow region. With severe shortfall in the southwest monsoon, this stretch is faced with a near-drought situation with the flora and fauna undergoing fast changes.
Thorny bushes are growing in places that earlier had green vegetation. For the past 20 years, there has been a considerable drop in the annual rainfall, especially during the southwest monsoon in the Kumily-Munnar stretch of the Western Ghats. The area where the changes are disturbingly evident is the Arunapuram-Vandanmedu stretch. The Arunapuram grama panchayat has already turned into a rain shadow region. Environmentalists attribute this to the loss of green cover in the stretch bordering Tamil Nadu.
Over the past one decade, a large number of trees have been felled in Arunapuram, which was once rich in cash crops such as pepper and cardamom. Now, the area is almost barren owing to shortage of rainfall and sharp fall in the groundwater level. The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) is the only forest ecosystem that has not been affected much. The area does not have much dry grassland and has abundant availability of rich water sources. In addition, there is also a close monitoring of human intervention into the forest ecosystem and wildlife habitats by the Forest Department authorities. The instances of wild animals intruding into residential areas are less there.
