Jumbo effort: A village in Assam shifts to make way for elephants
The villagers of Ram Terang exchanged gifts with the wild elephants of Assam this Christmas, in a manner of speaking. On December 25, 11 of the 19 tribal families began the process of moving to New Ram Terang, clearing out of a vital elephant corridor. The other eight families will follow over the next 10 days, after which Ram Terang will be surrendered.
In exchange, each family has got a new home built to look like their old one, with the added advantages of 1.3 acres of arable land, a toilet and a bathroom (only a handful of the families had toilets in Ram Terang) and solar power (Ram Terang had none).
“Our new village is nice. We have got our houses, and also a community hall, and farmland to practice settled cultivation,” says village headman Khoi Terang. “We didn’t want to move when this was first discussed, but the NGO showed us all their plans, along with the workshops they plan to build to help us learn settled cultivation. And we decided to shift to help protect our own crops and to help protect the elephants.”
As an added advantage, the tribals will practice settled farming on their new plots, as opposed to their traditional slash-and-burn methods, and this will help protect local forest land.
The move has been in the making for five years, negotiated by NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), in association with the local forest department and the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council. Planning and financial support was provided by the UK-based NGO Elephant Family, the Netherlands-based International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund.
Read: Missing on Paris climate summit agenda: A return to nature
The initiative has cost approximately Rs 1 crore. “When we first approached the Terangs, naturally no one wanted to move,” says Dilip Deori of WTI. “But we discussed the plans with them in detail, negotiated with them and made them aware of the crucial conflict in play. Eventually, we convinced them that it was as much about saving the elephant as it was about recognising their problems and trying to solve them.”
In a country where man-animal conflict claims hundreds of lives each year, this kind of voluntary relocation could offer a template for success. The corridor in which Ram Terang is located is a vital one because it connects the Nambor-Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary with eastern Karbi Anglong, en route the Kaziranga National Park, says Abhijit Rabha, additional principal chief conservator of forests in the Karbi Anglong Forest Department.
Elephants, like most wild animals, are creatures of habit. They tend to follow the same paths as they migrate from one habitat to another through the year. This corridor is about 2.5 km wide, and when human settlements appear within or along them, it results in conflict.
Read: Stationery makers are selling paper made of animal excreta
“An estimated 1,800 elephants use the corridor in which Ram Terang is situated, so the village often found its fields raided by the elephants, and the elephants were in danger as people tried to keep them out of their fields,” Sandeep Tiwari, deputy director of WTI.
This, then, is a first-of-its-kind initiative for north-east India. “There have been previous instances of corridors being secured in Kerala and Karnataka,” says Sandeep Tiwari, deputy director of the WTI. “This is a big development in the struggle to reduce man-animal conflict as well as protect wildlife.”
Now that Ram Terang’s 101 residents are on their way out of the corridor, the second phase of the project will begin, with similar relocations and rehabilitations of other villages in the elephant corridor. Next up is Tokolangso village. “Most of the people in this village seem much more forthcoming about moving now that they have seen New Ram Terang take shape,” says Deori. “We are hoping to start work with them soon.”

Bhubaneswar records maximum day temperature pan-India for 2nd consecutive day
- Officials in Bhubaneswar's Regional Meteorological Centre said the maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday too was highest on that day.

'Infrastructural marvel' Chenab bridge completes important milestone

MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan urges people to avoid travelling to Maharashtra
- In MP, the positivity rate increased to 2.3% on Thursday and there are 2,435 active cases in the state.

'375 mn Indian children may suffer due to Covid-19 pandemic': CSE report
- CSE’s director general Sunita Narian said Covid-19 had made the world’s poor poorer.

Coronil row: Patanjali condemns IMA for seeking explanation from Health min

Jaishankar talks to Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, reviews disengagement on LAC
- This was the first formal contact between Jaishankar and Wang since they met on the margins of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Moscow on September 10 last year, and it came days after India and China pulled back frontline troops from strategic heights around Pangong Lake.

Tandav row: HC denies anticipatory bail to Amazon Prime Video's commercial head
- Aparna Purohit was accused of the inappropriate depiction of UP police personnel, Hindu deities and adverse portrayal of a character playing the PM.

When will petrol and diesel prices be reduced? 'It's a dharam sankat', says FM

Bharat Bandh: What services are likely to be affected, what not

'Corrupt, liars!' PM Modi attacks DMK-Congress combine in TN, Puducherry
- PM Modi was in the two-poll bound neighbouring regions to launch a slew of infrastructure projects meant to give his regional allies a fillip.

News updates from HT: President's Rule imposed in Puducherry
- Here are today’s top news, analysis, and opinion. Know all about the latest news and other news updates from Hindustan Times.

'Tandav': Allahabad HC denies anticipatory bail to Amazon Prime's Aparna Purohit

Wild boars resurface in Kashmir valley after almost 30 years

For Andhra MLC polls, Jagan Reddy names sons of lawmakers who died of Covid
