ELEPHANTS OF KISHANPUR, HALDWANI
A heard of Elephants was a cause of worry for the farmers of Kishanpur for past 6 months. The elephants were entering fields every night and were destroying the crops sown by the farmers. This lead to many sleepless nights for the farmers as they had to protect their fields from elephant intrusions overnight. Farmers incurred huge losses as the crop productivity declined drastically. Electric fences could be installed, but that would take months for approvals and huge installation costs would be required.
District Forest Officer of Haldwani Mr. Chandershekhar Sanwal approached us with this problem in January this year with very high hopes. It was time to prove ANIDERS’s worth in the hour of need. We quickly assembled 2 units of ANIDERS and started off for Haldwani the very next day.
As we talked to the villagers, we got to know how adverse the conditions had been the past few months. Elephants intruded there fields on daily basis and were now totally immune to the tricks that villagers once used to drive the elephants away.
After analyzing the landscape around the farms, we installed 2 units of ANIDERS, one on each pathway of elephants from where they entered the fields. As the device is easy to install and handle, we trained the villagers on how the device could be operated and fixed if needed. Range officer Mrs. Shalini Joshi and her team were really supportive throughout the process of installation.
As the devices were installed, we left for the day and waited for the night to settle in, when the movement of elephants would start.
After a week we got a call from the Pradhan of Kishanpur (Village head), he had excitement in his voice and gratitude in his words. He told us that no elephant dared to enter the field since ANIDERS’s installation. Whenever the elephants came towards the field, ANIDERS would drive them away by triggering the alarm system.
The problem that was troubling the farmers since 6 months vanished by the installation of just 2 devices. The villagers are highly satisfied by the results and wish to buy more units to secure the complete from wild animal’s intrusions.
The results were astonishing and this news spread quite fast. Local dailies covered this incident and wrote articles of triumph about ANIDERS. Amar Ujala, a leading newspaper daily in India, came forward and put down the story behind ANIDERS.
