Correspondent
PASIGHAT, 20 Jan: The people of Lower Mebo area in East Siang district, including members of the Kotga Community Reserve Society (KCRS), have expressed concern over the deputy conservator of forest’s (DCF) move to halt an ongoing elephant corridor project in Namsing (Mebo), on the fringe of the Daying Ering Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), with the help of the KCRS, is implementing an elephant corridor project in Namsing village, covering Lower Mebo (Monggu Banggo) area and parts of Lower Dibang Valley district.
The project supports safe passage and movement of wild elephants in Mebo area under the Pasighat territorial forest division, and includes income generation schemes such as fishery, piggery, distribution of mechanised weaving sets and solar plates, besides funding for promotion of the culture of the local tribes.
The members of the KCRS and the heads of Namsing, Mer and Gadum villages in East Siang and adjacent Paglam in Lower Dibang Valley, have donated their land, measuring about 1,500 hectares, and the society, with the help of the villagers, has already conducted community plantations in one-third of the targeted 1,500 hectares.
Meanwhile, the Noida (UP)-based WTI office has released more than Rs 1 crore for various activities in connection with the elephant corridor project. It has also erected solar battery-operated shock wire at selected sites to prevent wild pachyderms from entering into human habitat.
But the ambitious project is facing a bureaucratic roadblock after the PCCF office moved the WTI chief, demanding a halt on the ongoing elephant corridor project.
As per official information, the Itanagar-based DCF (wildlife & biodiversity) has written to the founder & chief executive officer of the WTI, demanding a halt on the elephant corridor project, citing instances of “misuse of funds and allegations and counter-allegations received from local people of Mebo.”
The DCF had on 10 November last year requested the WTI chief to halt the elephant corridor project until the situation on the ground returns to normal. He had further sought a detailed report on the elephant corroder project and its implementation, along with a copy of the MoU/MoA signed by the implementing agency and the authority concerned.
On the other hand, KCRS president and Manggu Banggo ZPM Gumin Tayeng denied that there is “any adverse situation in the implementation process of the elephant corridor project,” adding that “an unscrupulous section is resorting to a hatred conspiracy to hamper the ongoing project, ignoring greater public interest.”
“The wildlife and biodiversity officials following the baseless allegations moved the WTI chief to halt the elephant corridor project. In fact, there was no law and order situation regarding implementation of the project. The unexpected halt of the WTI project may adversely affect the livelihood of over 600 poor families living in the Monggu Banggo area,” the ZPM said in his statement.
