HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, July 1: Altogether 239 members of Rapid Response Units (RRUs) located across five eastern Assam districts and the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya have been provided with field gear and first-aid kits by the premier biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak and the British Asian Trust, with support from the Biodiversity Challenge Fund, UK.
The field equipment, including raincoats, caps, shoes, and first-aid kits, have been provided to enhance the efficiency of the RRUs during the rainy season in their sustained efforts to mitigate human-elephant conflicts (HEC) in their respective areas.
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“Aaranyak and the British Asian Trust, in their effort to mitigate HEC, have been working with the local community to empower them. The RRUs are trained to manage HEC alerts and act as early warning units and have been formed as part of the effort,” said Dr Alolika Sinha, a senior biologist at Aaranyak.
RRUs, comprising volunteers from HEC-affected villages in Assam and Meghalaya’s Garo Hills Region, act as the eyes and ears in the efforts to mitigate HEC to protect the lives of both humans and elephants, as well as the livelihoods of villagers.
Each of these RRUs, networked through close WhatsApp groups, promptly propagates messages about the presence of wild elephant herds near any human settlement so that villagers can take prescribed action to avoid direct confrontation with the herd.
Aaranyak’s team organised an outreach event in HEC-affected Borogobal village in the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya on June 23. During this event, raincoats and first-aid kits were provided to 13 RRU members at the Borogobol Village Community Centre. Norway Marak, an RRU member from the village, mentioned that training to work for HEC mitigation as an RRU member has been immensely helpful in serving affected villagers. “We now know that the best way to protect lives and property in our Borogobal village from wild elephant herds is to clear their path to facilitate free movement instead of trying to scare them away with firecrackers or fire, which used to enrage the elephants,” he said.
Altogether 219 RRU members from six RRU units spread across five districts—Sivasagar, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, and Majuli—of eastern Assam were provided with field equipment and first-aid kits between June 13 and 26, following consultation workshops with them. Jorhat district has two RRUs, while the other four districts have one each. Each of these RRUs has an average of 50 members.
Aaranyak’s team actively participated in facilitating the consultation events along with support from active volunteer Rakib Ali and Aaranyak’s village champions.
