Koel river bank cordoned off with solar fences to prevent elephants from entering the city. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, July 15: The forest department has started solar fencing on the bank of the Koel river and other places to prevent elephants from entering the city.

An official said they were going to erect 18-km long solar fencing at various vulnerable points through which these pachyderms entered the city.

Officer of the Rourkela forest division Sanjeev Kumar said the solar fence was like wired fence run by solar energy and current passes through the wires intermittently. When the elephants come in contact with the wires they would receive mild shock, which does not harm them, but create a sensation. This shock distracts the animals.

“In the first phase, fencing has been done on a 8-km stretch, mostly along the river bank, through where the jumbos enter the city after crossing the river. We will go for another 5km in the next phase and the rest later,” said Kumar.

An official said the project cost had been fixed Rs 1.2 lakh per kilometre, and for the first 8km, Rs 12 lakh had been spent.

The three-layer fencing will be 6ft high above the ground level. Kumar said that in every three second, the current would pass for 1.2 seconds through the wires. In such a short period, it gives a sharp and short but safe shock to the animals. It also creates a psychological fear against tampering with it.

People were left panic stricken last year when a herd of elephants had entered a stadium in the city. The forest officials had a tough day in evacuating the animals. Later, the herd came to the peripheral area of the city several times and destroyed crops, houses and a lot of property.

Official sources said that in elephant attack last year, eight people were killed, and the government had to pay nearly Rs 1 crore as compensation to the victims’ families.

“The solar fencing will help prevent elephants entering the city. It has been successfully implemented in the Mahanadi forest division and the Chandaka forest area along with few other forests in the state,” said an official.