Sirens to keep wild elephants off human habitations

In an initiative to minimize man-animal conflict, the forest department has installed a sensor-based early warning system to keep elephants away from human habitations in a national park in Jalpaiguri district, officials said Sunday. Developed by a non-governmental organization after the forest department called for innovative ideas to stem the rising number of people getting killed by elephants, the system was set up in Gorumara National Park, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Nisha Goswami said.

As part of the system, sirens will blare if elephants come within 150 to 200 meters of the settlements in fringes of the forest, system developer Shimu Saha said. Forest officials said the blaring hooters will alarm the forest guards, who will then take action to prevent the elephants from entering the habitations. It was installed on a pilot basis at eight places in Kalipur eco-village and Bheluardanga areas of the national park on Saturday after being tested at several settlements over the past fortnight. The DFO said the system will be set up at 40 places in the national park and the numbers will be increased if found effective.

"Later, it may also be set up along the intersection of elephant corridors with railway tracks. The hooters will blare if the elephants come too close to the moving trains, alarming the driver and prompting him to slow down," she said. The DFO said the driver will then alert the forest guards asking them to get the elephants away from the tracks. The forest department will hold a meeting with the Railways in this regard, Goswami said.