Members of rapid response units (RRUs), which are tasked with mitigating human-elephant conflict (HEC), in West Garo Hills and five districts of Assam were provided with field gear and first-aid kits by biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak and the British Asian Trust, with support from the Biodiversity Challenge Fund, UK.
In total, 239 RRU members received the gear, comprising raincoats, caps and shoes, and first-aid kids. These are meant to enhance the efficiency of the RRUs during the rainy season in the sustained efforts for mitigation of HEC in the respective areas assigned to them.
“Aaranyak and British Asian Trust in their effort to mitigate HEC has been working with the local community to empower them. The RRUs are trained to manage HEC alerts and act as early warning units and have been formed as part of the effort,” said Alolika Sinha, a senior biologist at Aaranyak.
The RRUs in Assam and Garo Hills act as eyes and ears in the sustained efforts for mitigation of the HEC so as to protect lives of both human beings and elephants besides livelihood of villagers as much as possible.
Each of these RRUs network through close WhatApp groups, promptly propagating messages about the presence of wild elephant herds in the vicinity of any human settlement so that the villagers can take prompt prescribed action to avoid direct confrontation with the herd.
Aaranyak organised an outreach event in HEC-affected Borogobal village in West Garo Hills on June 23 on mitigation efforts and provided raincoats and first-aid kits to 13 RRU members who attended the event.
A RRU member of the village, Norway Marak, informed that being trained to work for HEC mitigation has been of immense help to serve the affected villagers. “We now know that the best way to protect the lives and property in our Borogobal village from the herd of wild elephants is to clear the path of elephants to facilitate them to move freely instead of trying to scare them away by bursting fire crackers or lighting fires as villagers used to do earlier and that enraged the elephants,” he said.
