‘Press meet with elephants in Mechi River’

By Bishnu Prasad Pokhrel,Damak, Oct. 7: It is well-known how much damage the Bahundangi Village in Jhapa district has faced over the years because of wild elephants. However, it is also well-known how much effort the authorities have made over the years to mitigate the destruction and help Bahundangi villagers take a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, it has also been argued that the local level should take the initiative, but the local authorities have raised their hands citing that the task was impossible with their resources and manpower.

Moreover, in a bid to call the attention of higher and more capable authorities, Ward No. 4 Office of Mechinagar Municipality, under which the Bahundangi Village falls, organised a press meet along the bank of the Mechi River on Thursday night to share their problems by showing how wild elephants entered the village and how terrifying it felt.

Under the title of ‘Press Meet with Elephants in the Mechi River’, locals informed that a herd of around 150 wild elephants has been raiding the village on a daily basis for the past five months.

The press conference started at 8 p.m. and was inaugurated by a herd of a dozen wild elephants that were entering Nepal via the Mechi River from India. When the elephants’ arrival was confirmed, several sirens started warning the locals. 

“Don’t worry, this is our daily problem and routine,” Arjun Karki, ward chairman of Ward No. 4, and host of the press conference, started calming the journalists as they were afraid of a new and unprecedented incident.

All the journalists present at the conference were afraid when the elephants were seen nearby as individuals being attacked by the elephants was a piece of regular news in the area.

“But this act has been a regular show for the federal and provincial authorities which they enjoy seeing rather than helping us avert it. We request you journalists to call the attention of higher authorities in solving our problem,” said Karki.

While Karki was speaking calmly as the herd of elephants continued marching towards the village, a group of locals was seen chasing the elephants with local tools. The individuals were from the local Rapid Response Team (RRT). Within some time, the team was successful in chasing the herd towards the forest and prevented several houses from getting destroyed.

According to Karki, the RRT is a group of 50 local volunteers who have been trained to chase away wild elephants towards the forest and prevent them from damaging crops and settlements.

“The volunteers use local tools to chase wild elephants. It is possible when the herd is small with around a dozen mammals which was chased just now. However, when the herd has as many as 150 elephants, we are only left praying to gods,” said Karki.

Likewise, Karki informed that steps like using barbed wire to fence the village were now a failure. 

“Elephants are intelligent. They have started finding ways to destroy wires and fences. Using a method to chase them away is not effective every time,” he added.

Studies have shown that more than 300 elephants reside in the forest along the Mechi River near Bahundangi. “Those elephants roam different places of Nepal and India and even reach up to Bhutan sometimes. However, Bahundangi has been their choicest location for the past five months leaving us in extreme fear,” said Karki.

Carrying a bag on his back with a small battery inside, a torch strapped up along his shoulder and a hand mike swaying in front of his chest, Newton Karki, coordinator of the RRT, said that the team knew the behaviours of the elephants well. “However, it is difficult to chase them away when they come in large numbers,” said Newton.

Nevertheless, since the problem has been persisting for far longer than just five months, Karki said that they were tired of the continuous conflict with elephants.

“The government should utilise the large number of elephants, create a proper habitat for them and promote tourism in the area. However, they are not even concerned with preventing the citizens from the regular distress,” complained Karki.