Guwahati: Three solar-powered fences were recently inaugurated in three villages under the Rongjuli Forest Range of Assam‘s Goalpara District and handed over to local community-based management committees. These fences aim to mitigate human-elephant conflict and promote coexistence between humans and elephants.
Biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak with the support of Goalpara Forest Division and in collaboration with the local community installed 2-kilometer, 1.5-kilometer, and 2-kilometer stretches of solar fence two months ago in Ganeshpara, Borjuli, and Bainpara villages under Rongjuli Forest Range.
The Range Officer Khalilur Rahman of Rongjuli Forest Range inaugurated all three stretches of the solar fence on October 18 in three different programmes held at Bainpara, Ganeshpara, and Borjuli.
The solar fences were subsequently handed over to the respective fence management committees of Bainpara, Ganeshpara, and Borjuli through the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
These three solar fence stretches will safeguard approximately 39 households in Borjuli, Bainpara, and Ganeshpara villages.
Notably, in the past three years, wild elephants have ravaged nearly 100 bighas of cropland in the Greater Chesapani area, encompassing Borjuli, Bainpara, and Ganeshpara villages.
Over 15 individuals have lost their lives till date due to human-elephant conflict (HEC) in the surrounding villages of this area. Additionally, around 20 houses have been damaged by wild elephants over the last decade.
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So far, Aaranyak has installed 45.61 kilometers of solar-powered fencing in approximately 20 HEC-affected villages and one school in the Goalpara district.
This initiative was undertaken with the support of multiple sponsors, including the Goalpara Forest Division and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
