Protest and response
Drones being used to fire teargas shells onto the protesting farmers and the placing of formidable barricades to impede their progress are extreme steps. Farmers are not criminals.
The Government should, on priority, listen to the woes of farmers in all sincerity and seriousness. Let the ‘feeders of the nation’ be heard. There have been many unfortunate instances of farmer suicides in the recent past. Let the Government not hide under the pretext of saying that the agitation is politically motivated.
Balasubramaniam Pavani,
Secunderabad
Animal crossing
Wild elephants have begun entering residential areas in Mananthavady, Kerala, leading to dangerous man-animal conflict situations. The Forest Department and politicians should realise that human life is more important or more precious on earth than anything else. As the Bishop of Mananthavady has said, mere compensation or placement is quite insufficient. Instead, a permanent remedy has to be found. The attempts of forest officials to catch/capture an elephant in the area, despite being equipped with sophisticated equipment, have gone in vain.
J.K. John,
Mumbai
More and more attacks by wild elephants are taking place in villages and towns adjoining forests. Tranquillising and capturing rogue elephants at one place and releasing them in another is no solution. It is a question of time before such translocated animals resume their activities. We have swung from one extreme, of mindless destruction of wild animals, to the other extreme, of stretching the concept of conservation.
It is easy for those in arm chairs in urban surroundings to wax eloquent in defence of rogue elephants and man eaters.
For helpless poor people who eke out a living in terrain near jungles, it is a matter of life and death.
M.R. Anand,
Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh
I recently came across a documentary on YouTube, by Planet Wild, which describes a natural way of preventing human-elephant conflict. Based on a project implemented in Tanzania to protect the majestic creatures, it highlights how “elephants are afraid of bees”. Even though elephants have a thick skin, they have weak spots (mouth, ears and trunk) which hurt a lot if stung by a bee.
In a project implemented in an elephant corridor, a team built a fence made of beehives and connected to a wire. If an elephant tries to cross, it touches the wire, which disturbs the bees. This project helps protect crops, safeguards residential areas and also results in higher incomes in terms of honey processing and distribution.
States in India need to study this project in earnest.
Shafna Basri K.,
Chennai
