Category Archives: Green Initiatives / Environment

Kodagu is safe, tourists need not panic: stakeholders

A scene from last year’s huge landslides in Kodagu.   | Photo Credit: File photo
A scene from last year’s huge landslides in Kodagu. | Photo Credit: File photo

Kodagu is safe and tourists can visit their favourite destination without any fear – is the message that the hospitality sector in the land of coffee is circulating in various platforms, including social media, after some tourists gave up the idea of holidaying in Kodagu following reports on travel advisory issued ahead of the monsoon.

The directive from a village panchayat for halting homestay bookings was restricted to one particular area and not to entire Kodagu. Yet, misinformation led to cancellation of bookings in other places, according to the stakeholders.

The directive from the PDO of Makkandur Gram Panchayat perturbed the stakeholders of tourism, which, after a gap of many months, is returning to normalcy. Tourism had taken a beating after the devastating floods and landslides last year.

Out of 13 “highly vulnerable” locations identified on the possibility of landslides during the monsoon, seven come under the limits of Makkandur GP. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, the owners of the homestays coming in the GP limits were asked not to take reservations for the next three months. The order applied only to homestays in Makkandur.

“But what was being projected is that the entire Kodagu is unsafe and therefore tourists must stay away from visiting the hill station. This misinformation affected the tourism industry as the occupancy rate in hotels and resorts decreased suddenly with unease among visitors,” said B.R. Nagendra Prasad, President, Kodagu Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants’ Association. The PDO’s order was misinterpreted. The directive is limited to the GP limits but it was being generalised and created a feeling that it is risky to visit Kodagu now, he told The Hindu.

Tourists cancel bookings
Mr. Prasad, who met Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy along with other members of the association on Monday over problems plaguing the tourism sector, said many tourists cancelled their bookings and returned to their destinations apparently over the fear being spread over their safety in Kodagu.

“The occupancy in hotels and resorts which was around 80 per cent during weekdays and 100 per cent during the weekends since the second week of April went down suddenly. If negative propaganda about Kodagu continues, tourism will be badly affected,” he observed.

Mr. Prasad said “it took us many months to restore confidence in tourists and bring them back.If such negative campaigns continue, it will hit Kodagu’s economy.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysuru – June 04th, 2019

‘Sinkholes to Stars’ Monday at GLMHC in Sanctuary Series

Professor Bopi Biddanda
Professor Bopi Biddanda

On Monday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. is the next program in the Sanctuary Lecture Series, “Sinkholes to Stars: Diving into Lake Huron’s Sinkholes while Reaching for the Heavens.”

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for this free program at Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, 500 West Fletcher St., Alpena.

Grand Valley State University Professor Bopi Biddanda will share the excitement of over a decade of exploration of life in Lake Huron’s sinkholes carried out in collaboration with Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and ponder the relevance of these findings to major issues of both scientific and societal interest such as Earth’s current biologic and physiologic diversity, oxygenation of early Earth in the distant past, and humanity’s ongoing search for extra-terrestrial life.

Biddanda is an aquatic microbial ecologist studying the movement of carbon driven by microbes at the Annis Water Resources Institute at GVSU. He grew up in the lush subtropical mountains of Southwest India, and came to the U.S. in the 1980s to obtain a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Georgia. Subsequently, he went on research and teaching adventures at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (Germany), National Institute of Oceanography (India), University of Texas Marine Science Institute, University of Rio Grande (Brazil) and University of Minnesota.

For the last decade and a half at GVSU, he has been studying the microbial cycling of elements in the Laurentian Great Lakes — exploring life in extreme environments such as Lake Huron’s sinkholes and operating a world-class time-series buoy observatory in Muskegon Lake.

Courtesy Photo A diver navigates a sink hole in Lake Huron.
Courtesy Photo A diver navigates a sink hole in Lake Huron.

He teaches classes in marine biology and aquatic ecology, and directs NASA’s Michigan Space Grant Consortium programs at GVSU. He hopes to continue to study Earth’s lakes — one of our most vital freshwater commons — as sentinels of change.

For more information, contact Stephanie Gandulla at steph.gandulla@noaa.gov or 989-884-6200.

source: http://www.thealpenanews.com / The Alpena News / Home> Life / June 06th, 2019

Coffee Board takes tech route to help growers boost yield

App-solutely smart: In the case of white stem borer, growers and the Board have validated 90% accuracy.   | Photo Credit: Reuters
App-solutely smart: In the case of white stem borer, growers and the Board have validated 90% accuracy. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Apps fed with data help forecast weather, predict leaf rust

For the 3.5 lakh coffee growers in India, 98% of whom are small-scale, challenges affecting production include labour shortage, climate change and pest attacks.

One way to manage these is by adopting technology, which the Coffee Board is trying to bring about for the growers.

Last year, Eka Software Solutions took up a pilot project for the Coffee Board of India on machine-learning based applications. According to Shuchi Nijhawan, vice president – agri business for Eka Software, the Board and the company took up three areas to try machine learning based apps. One was addressing the white stem borer problem, another was weather forecasting, and the third, predicting leaf rust.

Machine-learning

“Based on the data, photos provided, we created a machine learning algorithm to forecast each of these issues (for a grower). We worked with 20 liaison officers of the Board and they coordinated with the growers.

“The success of the app depends on the data fed in. In the case of white stem borer, the growers and the Board have validated 90% accuracy,” she says. Eka’s digital platform for agriculture aggregates data from different sources and applies the algorithm to provide insight to the coffee growers.

Srivatsa Krishna, chairman of the Coffee Board, adds that though there is no exact data, it is learnt that in the last 10 to 15 years white stem borer would have brought down Arabica production by 25-30%. “The growers do need solutions for such issues.”

“Despite the Coffee Act having been around for more than seven decades, farmers have zero technology. The only way to increase productivity is by bringing in technology,” he says. Even before smartphones became popular, coffee growers had checked prices on the London and New York exchanges almost on a daily basis.

Hence, adopting technology should not be difficult for them. The Board has plans to scale up the analytics technology for adoption by more farmers.

Currently, 90% of the estates depend on labourers for most of the work and there is not much technology adoption among coffee growers in cultivation or to increase production.

“If someone is ready to do it [technology] for us, we will adopt it. It will help increase yield,” says Sundar Subramanium, executive director of Mother Mirra Coffee Plantations. Ms. Nijhawan says the company is exploring partnerships for other crops too. “Indian farmers want such technology services. There are several agriculture institutes and cooperatives in the country that have a lot of data. I see a huge potential for these technologies.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business> Industry> Green Shoots / by M Soundariya Preetha / June 02nd, 2019

Diddahalli tribals get new abode as 338 houses are ready

New beginnings: The houses built for the displaced tribal people of Diddahalli forest in Kodagu district.
New beginnings: The houses built for the displaced tribal people of Diddahalli forest in Kodagu district.

Each house has been built on a 30×40 sq. ft plot at a cost of ₹4.70 lakh; total cost of the project is ₹39.27 crore

Residential colonies coming up in Kodagu for displaced tribals of Diddahalli forests are being developed as ‘model settlements’, putting across facilities usually found in layouts developed in cities, such as well-laid roads, piped water supply, and CCTV surveillance.

The tribals relocated from Diddahalli forests in Virajpet taluk in the district have been provided shelter in the newly-constructed settlements at Basavanahalli and Byadagotta villages in Somawarpet taluk, with the State government coming forward to build individual houses for the families. Each house has been built on 30×40 sq.ft. plot and the project is nearing completion with only a few houses remaining to be built besides establishing essential facilities.

Out of 528 houses proposed for construction, 338 houses had been completed and some families have already shifted to their new dwelling. The construction began two years ago, according to C. Shivakumar, Project Coordinator, Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP).

Kodagu Nirmithi Kendra has built each house at a cost of ₹4.70 lakh. The total cost of the project is ₹39.27 crore. So far, ₹21.76 crore had been released to the Nirmithi Kendra for having completed the construction of 338 houses, he told The Hindu.

The Nirmithi Kendra has taken up works like the installation of water tanks for each house, laying of pipelines, covering drainages with stone slabs, construction of parks and fencing, and installation of surveillance cameras at a cost of ₹2.72 crore.

At both Basavanahalli and Byadagotta, a sum of ₹8 crore was being spent on construction of roads, drainages, septic tanks, UGD lines, culverts, overhead tank, and anganwadi kendras besides establishing electricity connection and water distribution lines to every house.

Out of 174 houses in Basavanahalli, 138 houses had been completed. Byadagotta will have about 354 houses. There are about 84 temporary dwellings which will be making way for the construction of permanent houses consisting of a living room, a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and other facilities.

Survey identifies 3,000 tribal families

A joint survey by the authorities of various departments in Kodagu has identified around 3,000 tribal families, mostly Yeravas and Jenukurubas, living in various plantations in the district.

The survey was done to collate information on the number of tribal families living outside the forests and working in plantations, which are in need of dwelling.

The survey was done by a committee comprising representatives from the Departments of Revenue, Police, Labour, Tribal Welfare and Public Instruction.

Children admitted to residential schools

Away from the accustomed schooling in government-run ashram schools, tribal children in Kodagu have an opportunity to pursue an education in government-run residential schools – Morarji Desai Residential School and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya.

The authorities of Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) persuaded the tribal families in the district and their children appeared for the entrance examination to these schools.

As many as 53 tribal children have been selected for Morarji Desai Schools in Madikeri, Somwarpet and Virajpet areas. Two children from tribal settlements have made it to the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Madikeri.

“This is perhaps the first time that tribal children from the areas wrote the entrance examination and a few of them got selected. Now the challenge is to persuade their parents to complete the admission process since many are reluctant to send their wards to schools outside their settlement,” said C. Shivakumar, Project Coordinator, ITDP.

Most of the children selected for the residential schools belong to the primitive tribes. There are 11 ashram schools in the district.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Correspondent / Mysuru – June 02nd, 2019

Check safety parameters before construction, residents told

A file photo of the houses being constructed in Kodagu as part of the rehabilitation efforts. Some families are keen to build houses at their place of choice or the original site.   | Photo Credit: SpecialArrangement
A file photo of the houses being constructed in Kodagu as part of the rehabilitation efforts. Some families are keen to build houses at their place of choice or the original site. | Photo Credit: SpecialArrangement

Kodagu administration holds interaction with families that are not keen to move into houses being built by government.

Residents, whose houses were destroyed in last year’s landslips in Kodagu and are keen to reconstruct on the original site or a place of their choice, have been advised to ascertain if the place is safe for reconstruction.

The Kodagu district administration on Thursday held an interactive meeting with 54 such families who were not keen to move into the houses constructed by the government as part of its rehabilitation efforts.

The families were keen to build the houses at their place of choice or the original site. The government is chipping in with ₹9.85 lakh per house which is also the cost of each unit constructed by the government.

Additional Deputy Commissioner P. Shivaraj said many families had lost their houses during the calamity last year, all of whom were being rehabilitated. “But there are 54 families who wanted to build the houses on their own for which ₹2 lakh per family had been released in the first phase.”

He said the construction should be as per the specifications of the government and the beneficiaries should first ascertain if the site was suitable for construction. The balance amount would be released in a phase-wise manner based on the progress of work.

Assistant Commissioner T. Javare Gowda said the house should be at least 5.75 squares and the plot should be in the name of the beneficiary. He said the construction should follow the specified quality norms and clearance from the respective gram panchayats would be procured within a week.

However, the residents seeking to construct their own houses categorically stated that it would not be possible to complete the construction within the next four months as sought by the officials. With the onset of monsoon just a week away construction work was bound to be affected and hence the residents sought additional time for completing the construction.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Special Corrrespondent / Mysuru – May 31st, 2019

Hundreds submit pleas at Parihara Adalat

Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy checks the applications received during the Parihara Adalat in Madikeri on Monday.
Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy checks the applications received during the Parihara Adalat in Madikeri on Monday.

Hundreds of people affected by the natural calamity in Kodagu last year took part in the Parihara Adalat and submitted their pleas to the district administration on Monday.

The Parihara Adalat was organised by the district administration to respond to the grievances of natural calamity victims.

The adalat will be held for three days on the second floor of the assistant commissioner’s office auditorium in the district administration complex in Madikeri.

On Monday, hundreds of people enrolled their names.

Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy said that the district administration has dispensed 90% compensation to those who have lost their livestock, crops and homes. If anyone is left out, they will be provided with the compensation through the adalat.

The details of compensation have been put up on the website http://parihara.karnataka.gov.in

If the compensation amount has not reached the beneficiaries, such people may furnish their grievances to the district administration during the adalat to be held till May 29.

Many fields and plantations were filled with silt as a result of the natural calamity. A large number of crops were also damaged. Owners of the fields can also claim compensation during the Parihara Adalat.

The compensation amount provided by the government will be credited to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. The owners of the houses which were completely damaged were added in the first list and the names of those whose houses are found in vulnerable areas were added in the second list, the DC said and added that the rent allowance for the victims who lost their houses, from November 2018 has been directly credited to the bank accounts of the victims.

Assistant Commissioner T Jawaregowda and Tahsildar Natesh were present.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State> Mangaluru / by Adithya K A / DH News Service, Madikeri / May 27th, 2019

98 villages, 5 layouts among 105 eco-sensitive spots in Kodagu

Thousands of km of roads were damaged and connectivity was also hit.

A file photo of a major landslide which occurred in Kodagu last year.
A file photo of a major landslide which occurred in Kodagu last year.

Mysuru:

With hardly a week left for the South West Monsoon to hit Karnataka, the Geographical Survey of India (GIS) has identified 105 sensitive/vulnerable places in Kodagu including 98 villages and five layouts in Madikeri town and the entire Virajpet and Kushalnagar towns which are likely to be affected by heavy rains.

The Kodagu district administration has appointed 25 nodal officers and each nodal officer has been assigned the responsibility of a few areas to take elaborate precautionary measures to handle any emergency and ensure the safety of people, according to Kodagu DC Ms Annies Kanmani Joy.

She said the nodal officers are inspecting their areas and checking if emergency work has to be taken up. They are also identifying locations for shelter camps and the vulnerable population including sick and pregnant woman and the elderly who may have to be shifted. They have set up village level committees and are training people to coordinate with the district administration in case of an emergency, the Deputy Commissioner said.

She added that, special task forces are being formed by the police, fire and emergency services, CHESCOM, PWD, panchayatraj engineering department, NHAI, Pradhan Manthri Gram Sadak Yojana, minor and major irrigation dept, health, veterinary and forest departments to deal with any emergency.

During the South-West Monsoon last year, Kodagu was hit by floods and landslides due to the highest rains in 118 years. As many as 20 people died, 829 people lost their homes and 7,594 people were rescued and housed at 51 relief centres. A total 160 villages were affected and thousands of hectares of plantations and agricultural land were destroyed.

Thousands of km of roads were damaged and connectivity was also hit.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by Shilpa P, Deccan Chronicle / May 27th, 2019

25-Member NDRF Team Arrives In Kodagu From Vijayawada

Forces begin field work; to train people how to save themselves in case of sudden disaster

NdrfKF26may2019

Madikeri:

To instil confidence among people of Kodagu that the Central and State Governments will be with them in case of a repeat natural disaster this year and as a precautionary step even before the arrival of monsoon, a team of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) has already arrived in Kodagu.

The 25-member NDRF team from B/10NDRF Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh is camping at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Galibeedu in Madikeri. Along with NDRF, teams from State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Army’s Dogra Regiment and Civil Defence are expected to reach Kodagu soon.

As of now, two NDRF teams have been deployed in Karnataka. While one team is already in Kodagu, the other team is stationed at New Mangalore Port in Mangaluru. In case of emergency like last year, the NDRF Mangaluru team can reach Kodagu in short notice.

The NDRF team is led by Commander Veluru Ramesh and also includes members from Bengaluru and Dharwad. Ramesh said that the Kodagu District Administration had requested the team to camp in Kodagu for at least three months as a precautionary measure. Their stay will be extended depending on the scale of the disaster.

Last year in August, the NDRF and SDRF teams did enormous relief and rescue operation though it took time for their deployment as the catastrophe was sudden and was in an unprecedented scale. Before the arrival of Central Forces, the District Police and the Fire Service Department had carried out rescue operations and they could do only small-scale rescue works as they are not well-equipped. Not taking any chances, this year, the NDRF team has been stationed even before the onset of Southwest monsoon.

On May 29, the NDRF team will visit flood and landslide-prone areas including Makkandur, Hebbatageri, Madapura, Hattihole, Kaloor, Jodupala, Monnangeri, Mangaladevinagar, Thantipaala and other areas and will train people to save themselves and their livestock in case of a disaster.

The team will start field work during monsoon on priority basis and according to Commander Veluru Ramesh, more teams will be deployed in Kodagu based on the intensity of floods and landslides.

“Before a natural disaster strikes, Nature will give signals of it that can be captured through scientific methods. People must be moved to safe areas and the loss of life can be minimised or eliminated,” Ramesh said.

Another member of the team, Doddabasappa, who hails from Dharwad, said, during the heavy landslides on Makutta Road connecting Kerala State, the team had cleared the fallen trees and rubble. He said his team had participated in the rescue operation during the Fani cyclone in Odisha. Joint mock rescue operations will be conducted alongside the local Departments as per the direction given by Kodagu Administration, he said.

Such disaster management teams are formed by picking people from the nation’s Paramilitary Forces and are trained to rescue people and livestock during natural calamities. Apart from ensuring the nation’s security, such teams also protect people from unforeseen circumstances, he added.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / May 26th, 2019

Farming a wonder It’s slice of nature in this couple’s Acres

This is no doubt a one-stop point for anyone wishing to gather information on organic farming.

The farm is also frequented by gaur, deer, elephants and sometimes tigers and leopards which leave their pug marks.
The farm is also frequented by gaur, deer, elephants and sometimes tigers and leopards which leave their pug marks.

Nature lovers, Satish Gowda and his wife Ganavi, both post-graduates in Coffee Quality Management from Coffee Board of India, are on a mission to promote organic farming in Chikkamagaluru. The farm maintained by Satish has inspired many to set-up organic farms on the same lines. It’s not only organic farming for which the farm has become famous, it is also the abode for numerous birds and grazing animals which go in search of fruits. Photographers love the place as they can easily sight the birds which perch on trees. The Organic farmers association has done its bit to popularise the spot by bringing foreign national to have a close look at the farm and learn the tenets of organic farming. M.B. Girish explores this unique farm which is any nature lover’s delight

The future is organic and who would know this better than Satish Gowda, a honorary wildlife warden in Chikkamagaluru and his wife Ganavi, who hails from a family of coffee planters? Their painstaking efforts spread across eight years, has created an eco-lovers’ paradise at Honnala village, Sirivase post in Chikkamagaluru where they have converted an area covered with wild shrubs into a lush green expanse by cultivating about a 1,000 fruit bearing trees. This is no doubt a one-stop point for anyone wishing to gather information on organic farming.

Organic farming is not all that this farm boasts of, it is also a bird lovers’ hallowed spot where they can film rare species which have made the farm their home.

Temple Tree Farm is spread across 7.15 acres and has a variety of fruit bearing trees including some from foreign countries which attract birds, butterflies and herbivores from the neighbouring Bhadra Tiger Reserve located on the banks of River Somavahini.

Satish and Ganavi were inspired to set up their organic farm after a visit to Navadarshanam, an eco-ashram in Bengaluru. They met Ananthu and his wife Jyothi and were inspired by their eco- sustainable way of living.

To make their dream of setting up an organic farm come true, Satish and Ganavi purchased land at Sirivase in 2011 and named it Temple Tree Farm because a Temple Tree is located right at the entrance of the farm.

The farm uses solar energy to pump water to every nook and corner and has several varieties of fruit bearing trees such as Rambutan, Java apple, mulberry, rose apple, pineapple, rampala, seethapala, lakshmanpala, hanumanthpala, papaya, cashew, guava, jack fruit, velvet apple, peach, carambola, kokum, avocado, chikoo, orange, musambi, mango, litchi, pomelo and mangosteen. Among the fruits grown at the farm, the Nakkare variety is unique as it should be eaten raw and not ripe as it tastes sweeter. Nakkare is used to make pickles and chutney.

Observing that many varieties of birds come to the farm to feed on the fruit, Satish Gowda has engaged a naturalist, Shivakumar of Chikkamagaluru to study the various species of birds and butterflies and make a note of it for documentary purposes. Shivakumar says he has sighted about 60 species of birds in the last three years including the Grey Hornbill, Malabar Trogon, Rocket Tail Dragon, Blue-fly Catchers, Asian Paradise Fly Catchers and Ruby Throated Bulbul among others. The fruits at the farm are not harvested to allow the visiting birds feast on them.

“I even see Otters in River Somavahini flowing close to the farm, the other place I get to see Otters is in the Bhadra backwaters,” says Shivakumar. Another rare species he has seen at the farm is the Flying Lizard. “I read about the Flying Lizard in writer Poornachandra Tejaswi’s book and was lucky to spot it at Satish’s farm.”

The farm is also frequented by gaur, deer, elephants and sometimes tigers and leopards which leave their pug marks.

Malnad Gidda, an indigenous cow was added to the farm and dung and urine from the cows are being used as plant nutrients and pesticide. Satish says milk from Malnad Gidda is highly nutritious and has medicinal properties. A fish pond is an artificial tank to collect rain water as the region receives copious rainfall during the monsoon. The pond has stocks of fish varieties such as Gowri, Rohu and Katla.

The chicken are fed paddy and dry paddy hay is used as fodder for cows. Goats and cows are also fed green grass. No dry fodder is bought from outside. Honey boxes are kept around the farm and help in a collection of over 25 kg of honey in a year.

Ganavi says visitors to the farm are amazed how an empty piece of land was transformed into a fully functional farm. Taking a cue from Satish Gowda, Partasarthy Wodeyar, a resident of Salagame hobli near Hassan city, is developing an eco-farm on the lines of Temple Tree Farm. He also plans to start an eco-tourism centre in an area of four acres and wants to serve organic food to visitors.

“I learnt a lot from Satish Gowda’s farm. It is difficult to maintain a farm like his and the effort put in by Gowda is worth appreciating,” he says.

Satish being an honorary wildlife warden, is also rendering a helping hand in mitigating human-animal conflict in and around Bhadra Tiger Reserve. He offers compensation for cattle killed by tigers or leopards. Besides, Anti-Poaching Camp personnel are given torches, water repellent coats and other accessories to enable them guard the forest areas from smugglers or poachers.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / by M B Girish, Deccan Chronicle / May 19th, 2019

Project Radio Collar Launched To Track Elephants In Kodagu

ProjectCollarKF19may2019

Siddapura:

Concerned at the increasing instances of elephant-human conflict, the Forest Department, for the first time in Kodagu, has put radio collars on elephants to study their migration patterns.

The Department has decided to put radio collars on selected elephants so that their migration patterns can be studied. An analysis of their movements will help in avoiding human-elephant conflict that results in deaths of humans and damage to crops, said Department officials.

Accordingly, over six elephants that usually enter coffee estates and fields have been radio-collared in places including Virajpet, Madikeri, Kushalnagar, Maldare, Ammathi & Pollibetta. These areas have witnessed increased elephant attacks in the recent past.

The collars were fitted on the wild pachyderms with the help of tamed elephants including Bhima, Abhimanyu and Krishna. Last time, over four collars were fitted on the elephants and the Department staff was able to successfully track the elephant movements and prevented them from entering the human habitats.

Department officials said that radio collars could further strengthen the elephant corridor management strategy. It could also become an early warning system for villagers in order to avoid conflict with elephants as the collars could provide real-time information. Radio-collaring of animals is a tried and tested method of studying free-ranging wild animals that has been in practice for several decades. It is primarily used for tracking the movement and activity patterns of the tagged animal, with the signals being sent to a handheld device or to a computer via a satellite.

It is often the only method that is available for studying the movement and activity patterns of a secretive species like the tiger or a wide-ranging species like the elephant. Information obtained from the use of radio telemetry is of high scientific and conservation value. The GPS-enabled radio collars will provide updates in real-time about the location of a herd and help track them within the State as well as during migration. A tool embedded in the collar will send signals 24X7.

“Once we receive signals on the presence of the elephant herd near human habitation, the ground-level Rapid Response Team of the Dept. will be alerted on their mobile phones so that they can rush to the place and launch an operation to drive elephants back into the woods,” said District Forest Officer Maria Kristhu Raj.

The kumkis (tamed elephants) will infiltrate the herd and scatter the elephants. When the female leader is isolated, the experts perched on the nearest kumki will shoot her with a dart loaded with a tranquillising drug called xylazine. The dosage will be decided according to the size and strength of the matriarch. “After being hit, the elephant will walk like it is intoxicated for 10 minutes and then it will fall asleep. So, our men have a window of about 40 minutes to put the radio collar on the elephant,” he explained.

“In the 40 minutes the animal was under sedation, the team fixed the radio collar and activated it. Soon, veterinarians injected a drug to revive it. The entire operation was over in 50 minutes and the animal started heading back into the forests,” the DFO added.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / May 14th, 2019