Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Nov. 15: Wild elephants have been venturing into human settlements every year and the residents of New Riphyim village in Wokha seem to be the worst affected as destruction by the herd of elephants in their cultivation land has forced the villagers to stop harvest of crops.
In a press release the chairman of New Riphyim Village, Nyimtsemo Odyuo expressed grievance over the incapability of the state government to come up with a solution to end their woes despite continuous reports sent through the media.
Odyuo stated that News Riphyim village, which was also declared as a green village, has only one road to the cultivation land and plantation of the villagers which is “very unsafe” due to the fear of elephants.
“It is understood that the villagers solely depend on their farming activities for their livelihood, and a growing apprehension aroused that the villagers had to go empty this year without even harvesting their hard labour crops which they had put so much effort all the year round as it would be damaged by the elephants or wasted without harvesting,” Odyuo stated.
The chairman appealed to the government to initiate or undertake proper policies and remedial measures such as “taking away the elephants or undertake proper compensation with timely action at the earliest,” adding that if not done the villagers has “no other option” but to starve the year through as no crops can be harvested.
The district forest officer (DFO) of Wokha spoke to Eastern Mirror and said that the plight and worry of the villagers of New Riphyim village is still a major concern for the government.
“We have taken up immediate short term measures to help the villagers be it monetarily or sensitization and training programs,” said the DFO adding that long term measures will involve many things as it was not an easy task to separated human and animal.
The DFO informed that a joint assessment committee headed by the deputy commissioner is formed to discuss matters like these.
“The DC’s office, DFO’s office and wildlife warden keep reading applications from villagers about crop damages caused by the elephants after which we call a joint meeting,” she said adding that they try to give as much relief as possible since damage is huge and compensation for each and everyone was difficult.
The DFO informed that awareness programmes and techniques on how to keep away elephants from their land are imparted to the villagers as well.
She made known that New Riphyim village is also under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project where the objective is to promote forest conservation by forestry interventions and biodiversity, conservation through community participation, livelihood improvement and community development and institutional strengthening, thereby contributing to environmental conservation and stable income generation in the targeted project villages in Nagaland.
“We understand that the villagers are very frustrated and facing a hard time because of this and nothing can compare to what they are going through as it is their livelihood,” she expressed concluding that more orientation needs to be done and a permanent solution be settled.
As per the nationwide Synchronized Elephant Population Estimation 2017 report by the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate change, GOI, Nagaland has an elephant population of 446 and elephant density/km² of 0.45 which is the second highest density/km² after Karnataka.
With an ever-increasing human population leading to increasing fragmentation of habitat for the elephants, incidences of human injuries or deaths, crop raids, poaching / hunting of elephants will only increase, the
Wokha district having a total geographical of only 1628 sq. km and supporting a staggering numbering from 150-180 of elephants all over the district it not only indicates a bleak future for the farmers and rubber cultivators but also for the survival of these heritage animals in Wokha.
