Dalma villages to use chilli powder to tackle jumbo raids

Jamshedpur: Authorities are planning to distribute packets of chilli powder among villagers residing along the foothills of Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary . This decision comes in the wake of an increase in intrusion by wild elephants in villages near the sanctuary.

To check man-elephant conflict , forest officials will urge villagers to mix chilli power in mud or cow dung and apply the paste on boundary walls to prevent elephants from demolishing them.

Villagers will also be asked to soak ropes in water laced with chilli powder and use them to tie gates to prevent the pachyderms from breaking into houses and farm lands.

“We have decided to adopt a few innovative measures to check elephant-related casualties and chilli powder is one of them. Chilli is an effective repellent and we plan to use it to stop elephants,” said Chandramouli Prasad Sinha, divisional forest officer of Dalma. He said chilli powder was used in a few pockets of Dalma on a pilot basis and the result has been encouraging. “Further, squads comprising four forest guards and four trained local villagers have been formed to educate villagers on the proper way of using chilli powder,” added Sinha.

On January 26, an elephant demolished six houses, destroyed crop, damaged a muri (puffed rice) manufacturing factory, and injured a woman in Bhilaipahari and Betakocha area, situated at the foothills of Dalma. In 2018, three villagers were killed in elephant-related incidents in the district. Two villagers — Geetalata Devi, 83, and Sudhir Mardi, 16 — were trampled to death by an elephant herd in Chakulia in May. In another incident, Ram Chandra Pani, 67, died in Bansdih under the jurisdiction of Ghatshila police station in June.