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| Wednesday, 18 August 2004 |
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Elephants and electricity
Harvest time in a Mahaweli settlement in the heart of the country. As night falls, groups of men gather along the roadways, in tractors, motorcycles and bicycles. They smoke, chat and boil tea on the roadside, making themselves as comfortable as possible for the long night ahead. This nightly watch is necessary during the final month before the paddy is harvested to keep out the elephants. The sound of exploding fire crackers break the humming silence of a dry-zone night.The farmers use two weapons-torches and firecrackers- sound and light, to keep the animals away from the ripe paddy. Light, naturally, is alien to wild animals. Driving in remote areas, it is common to see a petrified animal caught in the powerful glare of vehicle headlamps quite unable to move. Elephants too react in similar fashion when faced with bright light or fire. Unable to comprehend this threat many animals simply hide or run away from light. Hence light is a powerful tool in keeping animals away from walking in on crops and human habitation. But ironically, much of the area that suffers human-elephant conflict in the country is 'powerless'. Many villages that border national parks, sanctuaries and forest reserves that contain large elephant populations have no electricity from the national grid. These remote outposts in the North Central, North Western, Eastern, Uva and Southern provinces are among the 45% of households in Sri Lanka that are not serviced by the country's power lines hence are among the most disadvantages areas in terms of development. These are the very areas that report a high incidence of conflict with elephants. These villages pay a heavy price for living beside elephant territory- by choice or by political miscalculation. Crop losses are common but when elephants venture to homesteads, kill and injure people, no amount of compensation can make up for that loss. This is no attempt at painting the elephant as the villain. Elephants too pay a heavy price for living close to human habitation and venturing to crop fields. Large numbers of elephants are shot, trapped and poisoned by irate villagers. People who live in the cities and suburbs with lit streets and illuminated skies cannot quite comprehend the darkness that can envelope a remote farming village at night. Without electricity, the first inkling of elephant encroachment is the sound (of breaking twigs or fences) and often by then, it is too late. The tragedy is that the country may not have the capacity to expand generation into these areas in the near future, given the unstable nature of electricity generation and the lack of cheap fuel. Looking for solutions for this difficult conflict, a group of researchers looked at rural electrification options as a possible solution to aggravated conflict in several villagers bordering the Uda Walawe National Park. Since there was no grid electricity forthcoming, the project experimented with renewable options, solar and lately dendro. In Pokunutenna, the project experimented with a hybrid system of wind and solar to power both street lighting and household lights. Earlier the village depended on kerosene lamps and lanterns. Across the country in the buffer zone of Wasgomuwa, a similar project looked at an electric fence around the village fields to keep out elephants. This too was powered by solar. Unfortunately however solar power does not come cheap. Especially as a possible elephant-prevention method that needs powerful lighting and extensive fencing, solar is not a viable or cost effective option at current market prices. There are some new experiments with dendro or wood biomass electrification units, that need community input to cultivate the necessary wood, cut and cure them ready for the generator unit. Such experiments are alternative ways of looking at the human-elephant conflict must be encouraged. The problem is not merely a small issue to be handled by the understaffed and under-motivated Wild Life Department, but a national issue. |
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Produced by Lake House |
by Tharuka Dissanaike
