Chennai, Sep 2 (IANS) The Coimbatore forest division in Tamil Nadu is facing an alarming rise in human-elephant conflicts, with wild herds increasingly straying into villages, damaging crops, destroying property, and in some cases attacking residents.

The situation has exposed a critical shortage of frontline manpower needed to monitor animal movements and guide them safely back into forest habitats.

Anti-poaching watchers, who form the backbone of ground-level conservation and conflict-prevention measures, have seen their numbers drastically reduced in recent years. From a strength of around 160 in 2023, the division today operates with just 60.

The gap widened after many senior watchers with more than a decade of service were reclassified into other posts, leaving large stretches of conflict-prone terrain inadequately covered. These watchers, often recruited from tribal communities living near the forests, play a crucial role as they possess deep knowledge of the terrain and animal behaviour.

Their presence is considered indispensable in anticipating elephant movements, responding swiftly to crop raids, and assisting regular forest staff in driving animals away from human settlements. However, with limited personnel available, even routine patrolling and crop-protection duties are proving difficult to sustain.

The challenges are particularly evident in areas such as Boluvampatti, Periyanaickenpalayam, Karamadai, and Mettupalayam, where elephant incursions are frequent.

With only a handful of watchers left in each range, and many of them tied up with daily maintenance or clerical duties, preventing raids on standing crops has become nearly impossible.

The risk to frontline staff, often working at night with minimal support, has also increased sharply. Environmental groups argue that the deployment of a larger dedicated team of watchers would significantly reduce conflicts and help prevent casualties on both sides.

They emphasise that a focused unit working solely on conflict mitigation could strengthen community trust and reduce the damage to livelihoods.

Forest officials point out that vacancies in other categories, such as forest guards and rangers, have been filled recently, and more watchers may be recruited in the future for high-conflict areas. But for now, residents living on the forest fringes continue to face an unsettling situation, as the imbalance between human settlements and elephant habitats grows more precarious by the day.

–IANS

aal/dpb