KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Sept 25: For ages, Dalma has been known as a natural habitat of wild elephants, leading a large number of tourists to visit the hill. But the sprawling hill situated near Jamshedpur is bereft of any tusker.
It may sound shocking, but true.
For the past two years, the presence of resident elephants in Dalma has started waning, and today there is not even a single one of them in the hills.
Saba Alam, who is in-charge as Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Ranchi Wildlife Division, under which the Dalma hill falls, confirmed that presently there is no elephant in Dalma.
Disrupted Elephant Corridor Identified as Cause
“A 16-kms-long trench dug by the West Bengal government forest department in Medinipur forest division a couple of years ago is the root cause behind the absence of elephants in the Dalma hill. The said trench was dug in the middle of the elephant corridor linking Medinipur and Dalma hill, causing the movement of the tuskers seriously affected,” said Alam while talking to The Jharkhand Story.
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The senior forest officer, who is basically DFO, Jamshedpur, pointed out that they had written to the Central government about the problem. He said the Centre’ forest department authorities are learnt to have taken necessary action to redress the problem.
Changing Patterns and Forest Monitoring
Speaking further, Alam stated that the elephants tend to leave Dalma during the monsoon towards the plain or other jungles.
“With the advent of winter and harvesting period, the elephants return to Dalma. But since the past two years this recurrent practice has stopped,” the forest officer said.
It may be mentioned here that the Dalma has a sanctuary status, especially for the elephants and is an elephant project area.
Sources revealed that though elements have gone away from Dalma hill, herds of the pachyderms can be spotted on the border of the sanctuary area, which is spread across 192 square kilometres.
After the elephants moved away from the core area of the hill, Rangers and foresters have been constantly monitoring the movement of the tuskers.
If a lone elephant strays into the hill for a short while, it becomes a matter of pleasure for the forest department concerned.
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Impact on Local Communities
Moreover, the absence of elephants in Dalma has come as a relief to the tribals living in the hill. There are 86 villages across the sanctuary area. The hill inhabitants had to live cautiously as they often used to fell victim to the elephant trampling.
A resident of Chimti village in Dalma, Kuldhar Singh Sardar said till 2023 herds of elephants used to come near his house occasionally.
“Sometimes, some elephants in the herd would even damage houses in the village while others damage the paddy crops. But no more elephants have come to the site for the past two years. Significantly, we do feel fear while responding to nature’s call even in the night,” said the villager while talking to this correspondent.
