Elephants from India Destroy Crops in Bahundangi, Nepal

Jhapa. Residents of the border areas including Bahundangi in Mechinagar are in fear as herds of elephants from India have started entering every night to eat ripe crops.

In the Bahundangi area of Wards 1, 4, and 5 of Mechinagar Municipality, herds of 30 to 40 elephants entering daily from the Indian jungle have been damaging farmers' maize, सुपारी (betel nut), and other crops for the past week.

Ward Chairman of Mechinagar Ward No. 4, Arjun Karki, said that a joint team of security personnel, forest rangers, and the Rapid Response Team has been mobilized based on decisions from an all-party meeting to prevent elephants at the entry points, provide security to locals, and prevent damage to crops.

He informed that the herd of about 100 elephants that have been coming from Assam, India for the past week stays in the jungle across the border during the day and separates into herds of 30 to 40 at night, entering Nepal and damaging farmers' crops.

An all-party meeting was recently organized to find ways to prevent elephant herds from entering Nepal. The all-party meeting decided to discuss with Indian forest officials and government bodies to stop the elephants, prohibit the public from entering the entry points after 6:00 PM under the pretext of watching elephants, install seasonal fencing around settlements based on affected areas, mobilize tractors to chase away elephants and prevent them from entering the entry points, provide fuel for tractors from the municipality, and conduct public announcements urging people not to move around at night, informed Ward Chairman Karki.

Hari Prasad Upreti, Chairman of the Human-Elephant Conflict Management and Environmental Conservation Forum, said that the process for necessary maintenance of the 18-kilometer-long solar fence installed in the three border wards of Bahundangi to prevent elephant entry is underway.

He informed that most of the batteries used in the electric fence, installed a decade ago, are in need of replacement, and the border solar fence will be repaired with a budget of Rs 3 million from the National Nature Conservation Fund, Division Forest Office, and Mechinagar Municipality.

Niraj Ghimire, former chairman of the Human-Elephant Conflict Management and Environmental Conservation Forum, says that due to elephants entering Nepal in large herds from India during crop harvesting season, loss of life and property is repeated every year. He demanded that the herds of elephants should be stopped through high-level talks with the relevant bodies of the Indian government.

The elephants that came this year have completely eaten the ripening maize crop and have flattened the betel nut trees. Local Gopi Rizal said that within a few months, elephants have attacked and injured three people in Bahundangi and damaged 15 houses. He demanded that new batteries should be installed as the batteries of the solar fence installed in the border area have been stolen.