The solar fence erected in the Rourkela forest range. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, Aug. 23: The forest department has undertaken solar fencing around Rourkela to curb elephant menace.

Of late, elephants have been found straying into the forest areas in and around the city.

Divisional forest officer Sanjeet Kumar said that so far a stretch of 8km had been fenced. “We started building the fence from Pradhanpalli and have completed around 8km of solar fencing near Biramitrapur,” he said.

The initial plan was to fence 3km, but it was enhanced to 18km. Of this, work on the stretch of 8km has been over.

“We have spent over Rs 12 lakh for the first phase in which we completed 8km of fencing,” said Kumar.

The fencing has been started at Pradhanpalli on a priority basis. “We finalised the place after closely observing the elephants’ movement. They mostly come through Pradhanpalli and straightaway take their usual route,” said Kumar.

“Once the elephants touch the fence with their trunk, they will feel a pulsating sensation but not a major shock. Since elephants have a strong memory, they will remember the shock and would not venture near it again,” he said.

There will be solar batteries placed every 4km. In case of an elephant getting an electric shock, the circuit would immediately break and an alarm bell would ring. There would be watchers for every battery. And the duty of the watcher is to inform the forest department regarding the snapping of the circuit.

“These watchers will be trained in due course. They will then restore the circuit instead of the department officials who have to rush to the area to get it done,” he said.

“At present, we are erecting a three-strand fencing. The height of the fence will be 6 feet. “We can only afford to do a three-strand fencing with the allocated funds,” said the officer.

The fencing would continue till Jabaghat near Jhirpani, which is near Koelnagar. The necessity of fencing arose after elephants came perilously closer to urban areas and there was a fear of heavy loss of life and property.

On one occasion last year, a herd invaded Rourkela from the Bisra side and lodged themselves in the under-construction Bisra Stadium at Bisra Chowk. Before that, three male elephants had made a detour of the city before moving towards Bonai. The jumbos have also claimed lives in and around the city.