The roots of the human-elephant conflict in Chhattisgarh can be traced back to a combination of factors. Historically, Chhattisgarh’s forests provided ample space for elephants to roam freely without encroaching on human settlements.
Since 2005-06, rapid deforestation and coal mining in Chhattisgarh, urbanisation, deforestation, and the expansion of agricultural lands have significantly reduced the natural habitats of these elephants. As their traditional migration routes have been obstructed, elephants have increasingly come into conflict with farmers in search of food and water, leading to crop raiding incidents.
As an agrarian state, 70% of Chhattisgarh’s population is dependent upon agriculture for sustenance, education, and security making the need for mitigation of human- elephant conflict even more necessary.
In conflict-ridden areas, villagers need to be made aware of elephant behaviour and given adequate training and tools to deal with conflict situations.
Establishing Early Warning Systems such as radio-telemetry, tracking the movements of elephant herds become an essential technology-driven method of mitigating the ongoing human-elephant conflict in Chhattisgarh.
Read the full story that first appeared in The Wildlife Watch Binocular here:
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