Author: Laxmeesha Acharya

EPT Survey at Javalagiri – 14/06/2014

Kenneth Anderson nature Society once again rose to the occasion with the help of enthusiastic volunteers to conduct a survey of the EPT (Elephant Proof Trench) at Javalagiri Range of CNWLS, along with the officers and staff of the Tamil Nadu Forest Dept. The survey was carried out in response to the request KANS got from the District Forest Officer of Hosur Forest Division.

The purpose of the survey was to examine the EPT and document the health (capacity to keep elephants away) of the EPT. This has been necessitated due to the alarming number of elephants venturing out of the forest into patta lands, townships, roads etc. in recent times.

Some facts:

  • Nineteen volunteers from KANS participated in the survey.
  • Eight teams were formed to cover approximately 50+ kms. of EPT.
  • Each team was accompanied by a Forest Guard or a Watcher.
  • Each team covered on an avarage 6-9 kms along the EPT.

What is an EPT?

  • Typically an EPT sits between the forest and Patta Land (agricultural land).
  • EPT is about 4 to 5 Ft. wide by about 6 to 7 ft deep.
  • Meant to prevent Elephants crossing across to the agricultural land from the forest.
  • At places where the trench cannot be dug (due to granite surface), a stone wall is erected. 

Modus operandi of EPT survey

  • Team walks along the EPT.
  • Members examine the EPT for its effectiveness in keeping the elephants on the intended side and not allow it to cross over.
  • If the EPT is found to have been compromised (reasons below), then the team does the following:
    • Take GPS coordinates of the place.
    • Take photos.
    • Write description to indicate what has gone wrong and what could be done.

Reasons for EPT losing its effectiveness

  • EPT losing its steep sides due to erosion.
  • Elephants kicking mud into it deliberately in order to get across.
  • Villagers filling portions of it in order to get their cattle across for grazing.

Participant list

  • Mr. Ulaganathan, DFO – Hosur Forest Division
  • Mr.Anand, ACF – Hosur Forest Division
  • Staff of Hosur Forest Division
  • KANS
    • Prem Kumar Aparanji
    • Rahul
    • Soundaryavalli Madhugiri
    • Brijesh
    • Tarsh Williams
    • Jyotsna
    • Sabari Giri
    • Akshay Devendra
    • Abhinandan Murthy
    • Kiran Nagendra
    • Ram
    • Rochelle
    • Girish
    • Manjunath
    • Sanjeev Kumar SR
    • Prasanna Vynatheya
    • George Tom
    • Jobin
    • Suresh
Misc Notes:
  • Food arrangement was exceptionally good, thanks to the TN Forest Dept.
  • No mosquitoes in the forest IB.
  • Slightly cloudy neither too warm nor cool.
  • Evening at the forest IB was very pleasant with each sharing their wilderness experiences.
DFO Mr. Ulaganathan with the aid of videos explained to the group the problems associated with Elephants straying into human habitations. He also mentioned that there is a large herd of elephants that have gone across from Melagiri crossing NH7 and are holed up in Andhra, and that he would need our help to drive them back to Melagiri. It seems the elephants need to be driven across 50 kms of agricultural land and human habitation and that it would be a tricky affair. Leaving the elephants there would mean death to them ultimately due to food shortage and inbreeding.
Please see the photos here: picasaweb.com/ka.naturesociety/EPTAnalysisJune2014

–
Prasanna Vynatheya

Illegal Checkdams in Bettamugilalam

To,                                                                                                                                                          Date: 25/05/2014
Thiru. Lakshmi Narayan, IFS
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden,
Tamil Nadu Forest Department,
Chennai  – 600 015
Copy to:
  • District Forest Officer, Hosur Forest Division
  • District Collector, Krishnagiri
  • Sub-Collector, Hosur
  • Range Forest Officer, Denkanikottai Range, Hosur Forest Division
Sir,
Sub: Illegal Checkdams affecting Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary
Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) is a wildlife NGO registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. We have been actively working with the Hosur Forest Division for the last 6 years on various issues pertaining to wildlife conservation and related matters.
During our visit in April 2014 to a region called Bettamugilalam, located near Denkanikottai, Krishnagiri District, we noticed that in almost all the farm plots, the farmers had dug bore wells and were drawing water using diesel motor pumps.  Upon enquiring, the farmers said that they have been doing this for the past 3-4 years.
The impact is that the streams that flow through the villages are going dry[1].
So, in order to improve the water table, they have created several checkdams along the stream by placing sacks of sand [2] and boulders[3].
We would like to bring to your notice the threat from such activities:
1.       Bettamugilalam is located in the Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary. It is surrounded by the Reserve Forests of Aiyur, Sameri, Marandahalli, Toluvabetta and Galligattam. The streams that originate in these forests flow from one to the other through these villages [4]and eventually flow into the Panchapalli reservoir. The Checkdams are in violation of Section 29 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 which states that:
“No person shall destroy, exploit or remove any wild life including forest produce from a sanctuary or destroy or damage or divert the habitat of any wild animal by any act whatsoever or divert, stop or enhance the flow of water into or outside the sanctuary, [5] except under and in accordance with a permit granted by the Chief Wild Life Warden, and no such permit shall be granted unless the State Government being satisfied in consultation with the Board that such removal of wild life from the sanctuary or the change in the flow of water into or outside the sanctuary is necessary for the improvement and better management of wild life therein, authorises the issue of such permit”
2.       With streams in the forests going dry, Elephants have been occassionally visiting the villages in search of water. If these streams are not restored to their natural state, then, in the coming days there could be an increase in the human-elephant conflict in this region.
Therefore, in the interest of both the people and forests, we request you to take appropriate steps to restore the natural flow of the water systems and maintain the hydrological balance of this fragile region by closing and preventing these illegal Checkdams.
Regards,
Laxmeesha Acharya

Kenneth Anderson Nature Society
1. Bore-well next to a stream that has gone dry

2. Checkdams made using sacks of sand


3. Checkdams made using boulders


4. Map showing the streams (in blue) flowing through Bettamugilalam


5. Blocking of stream from flowing into the forest


Petition to recover encroached land along Cauvery

To,                                                                                                                                                          Date: 04/03/2014
Thiru. T.P. Rajesh, IAS
District Collector
Krishnagiri
Thiru Ulaganathan, IFS
Conservator of Forests
Dharmapuri circle
Thiru Praveen P Nair, IAS
Sub-collector
Hosur

Sir,
Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) is a wildlife NGO registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. We have been actively working with the Hosur Forest Division (Hosur FD) for the last 5 ½  years on various issues pertaining to wildlife conservation and related matters.
One such issue has been a religious congregation of thousands of people at a place called Dabguli, which is located on the banks of the Cauvery river in Urigam range. We had initially noticed a large amount of waste at this place during a bio-diversity survey that KANS was carrying out in the Hosur FD in 2009-10. We met the organisers, who had been holding this festival from around 2007-08. In 2011, we convinced them to shift from using silver-lined plates to eco-friendly leaf plates. In 2012, with active assistance from the Hosur FD and Police, we began frisking the visitors for liquor and plastic.
This year the festival was held on February 1stand 2nd and the Hosur FD mobilised a large contingent of Foresters, Guards and Watchers, drawn from Denkanikottai, Anchetty and Urigam ranges, to manage the crowd. KANS would like to thank Mr. Ulaganathan (DFO, Hosur FD and CF,Dharmapuri) for taking up this initiative and for personally monitoring this activity the entire day.  
KANS would like to draw your attention to some concerns pertaining to this festival.
Majority of the visitors have utter disregard for forests and for the jurisdiction of the forest department.
  • Around 230 vehicles (auto-rickshaws, cars,tempos, tractors, buses etc.) were counted at the Manjukondapalli check-post on the first day. An equal, if not more, number of two-wheelers also passed through the check-post. The vehicle density increased from evening onwards till mid-night. This is despite the Forest Department banning entry into the forests after 6.30 pm. 
  • From previous  years, we have noticed that nearly 4-5 tractor loads of wood is collected from the forests for cooking, without permission from the Forest Department. Also, such uncontrolled removal of wood defeats the intention of activities carried out by the Forest Department such as creation of fodder plots, afforestation etc.
  • No permission has been taken from the Forest Department for conducting the festival at this scale, which is conducted not just within the temple premises, but spills onto a much larger area.
  • The temple itself has grown and additional permanent and semi-permanent structures have been built in encroached government land. The organisers have plans to re-build the temple in a grander scale.
  • The forest road leading from Belpatti village to Dabaguli APC has regularly been levelled to ease the vehicle movement, not just during this festival, but throughout the year. There is an increase in crowd visiting Dabguli ever since restrictions have been imposed in Mutatti in Karnataka due to it being included in Cauvery WLS. This was claimed by one of the organisers, who said that he was happy that more people are visiting Dabguli.
JCBs are used for levelling the road, without Forest Department permission.
  • The waste generated during the festival are collected and burnt in large pits dug in the river bank. The remaining waste (paper, plastic, glass etc.) and the remains of the burnt/partly-burnt waste gradually finds its way into the river. Since there are no sanitation facilities within the temple premises, the visitors (thousands of them) relieve themselves in the river and in the forest. These pollute the air, soil and water and thereby severly effecting the river ecology. Also, this is same polluted water that is drawn downstream for the Hogenekal drinking water project.
  • Even on days other than the festival, the temple is open and music is played by the family living at the temple, thereby permanently driving away wildlife from this part of the Reserve Forest (RF).
This part of the forest is very important because,
  • The entire stretch of 40kms of the Cauvery river in the Hosur Forest Division is inviolate, except for Dabguli.
  • The areas between Uganiyam and Dabguli are prime-habitat for the Grizzled Giant Squirrel.
  • HFD has dug EPTs all along the northern boundary with the intention of diverting the movement of elephants towards Cauvery. So, it is vital that the forests around Cauvery are left undisturbed, else there will be cases of Human-elephant conflict coming from these areas also in the future.
  • Increasing numbers of Tigers are being sighted in the Cauvery WLS in Karnataka in the ranges exactly opposite to Dabguli. So, there is a very high possibility of Tigers moving into Melagiris in the coming years.
With so much at stake, we cannot allow Dabguli to turn into a popular, dirty, noisy pilgrimage center.
The Kestur RF notification (Fort ST. George Gazette No 137, dated:09.03.1887) gives Right of way to a width not exceeding six yards in width and is allowed only for men, cattle and pack animals over the path from Kestur to Dabbaguli. Hence vehicle entry can be banned or restricted.
The Bilikal RF notification (Fort ST. George Gazette No 341, dated:23.05.1887) specifies an area of 100 yards by 5 yards for the temple. Therefore, the remaining structures can be easily demolished by the Forest Department. There is a Supreme Court ruling (SLP No. 8519/2006) which does not permit construction of religious structures in public places and has directed the District Collector to take action on unauthorized structures already in place. The RF notification also states that for organising the assembly of people at Dabguli, a notice ought to be given to the Forest Officer. Since no such notices are currently being given to the Forest Department, all the festivals happening at Dabguli can be termed  as illegal and hence banned.  
The Tamil Nadu Forest Act, 1882 and Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 provide absolute protection to forested area from all factors causing degradation, depletion and destruction of wildlife and wildlife habitats. In the spirit of maintaining the law of the land, we request you to take appropriate and immediate steps to protect this region.    
Regards,
Laxmeesha Acharya
Kenneth Anderson Nature Society
Copy to:

Range Forest Officer, Urigam Range, Hosur Forest Division

Field Staff Training – Mudumalai and Nagarhole

KANS and Hosur Forest Division conducted a ‘Staff Training program’ at Mudumalai and Nagarhole Tiger Reserves from 24-28 August 2013. This was attended by the DFO Mr.Ulaganathan, ACF Mr. Soundarrajan, 2 Foresters, 5 Forest Guards, 6 Forest Watchers and 7 Anti-poaching Watchers.


Day 1: Arrived at Mudumalai by evening after some sight-seeing at Srirangapatna.

Day 2: Started with an early morning safari and reached a watch tower at Game hut. The staff were taken around and explained about the functioning of the watch tower.

Later, we visited  Imbrella Anti-poaching camp. Forester Rajendran from MTR explained about the functioning of the APC. This covered:
  • Staffing
  • Patrolling methods (what time they leave in the morning, beats covered etc. )
  • Recording of patrols (use of GPS, transfer data weekly with the DD, log books etc.)
  • Dealing with incidents like forest fires, human intrusions, hunting etc.
  • Life in APC (rations, solar lights, weekly shifts etc.)
This was followed by a Q&A by HFD staff with the Forester and interaction with the APC staff.

We then returned to the Theppakadu Log House where we were residing and after finishing breakfast, went on another another round into MTR where the Forester showed salt licks and some water holes. He explained how the water holes were prepared using natural materials, so as to blend with the environment.

Post lunch, we were taken to couple of other places around MTR and to see the fabulous Moyar falls.

Upon returning, we headed to the Theppakadu camp where the Deputy Director of MTR had organised a theory class. This talk was given by Mr. Kannan,Wildlife Biologist. A presentation was given on how protection and monitoring of Tigers and other species are done in MTR. The discussion was summarised by our DFO, who stressed that these systems should be introduced in Melagiris asap and protection should be taken up to the maximum extent possible.


Next, we visited Asarumattam APC in Segur Range. Its at a very remote place, almost 15 kms from the nearest road. The participants got to observe and interact with the anti-poaching watchers.

Day 3: Left for Nagarhole. The Nagarhole CF Mr. Gokul, had arranged for a safari, and we went on that and to the luck of all  of us, expecially the staff, we were able to sight a Tiger. Evening was spent in relaxing in the quiet environs of the forest.


Day 4: Mr. Chinnappa arrived early morning by 7.30 am and he gave a brief talk about his experiences from the time he joined Nagarhole in 1967 and till date. Subsequently, after breakfast, we all headed out into the forest. There was a bus and jeep that took us in and at various places we had to get down and walk and at each place Mr.Chinnappa explained various aspects of forests and field craft. 

These covered:

  • Identification of scat, dung and pellets and how to read them
  • Behaviour of animals, which live in groups and as individuals
  • Role of animals in keeping forests clean
  • Role of forests in water conservation
  • Jungle survival skills
  • Role of animals in soil conservation
  • Parasitical behaviour of some trees


As we drove around the forest, he also showed us ‘hadlus’ (swamps) where people used to earlier graze cattle and cultivate paddy. He explained how the people were tactfully relocated and today there are wildlife in these swamps at all times of the day. He also showed areas where forest fires had destroyed over 30 sq.kms. in the core area which had lead to eupatorium and lantana colonizing the burnt areas.


Overall, the stress was on impressing upon the staff not to take their work casually. There is a wealth of knowledge around them and since they are in the field all the while, they ought to observe and learn and not rely on outsiders for information of their forests. The stress was also on understanding the importance of forests for the securing the future of our children and the huge responsibility that is there on the staff in protecting these forests.

Back at the base, Mr.Chinnappa thanked the staff for visiting Nagarhole and expressed his wish to come to Melagiris again and see more wildlife than what he had seen during his last visit.



The staff too were motivated with what they had witnessed over the last 3 days in Mudumalai and Nagarhole. The challenge is to translate this motivation into action on ground.


Protection Staff Workshop, 2011

After several weeks of planning, the workshop for Protection staff of Hosur Forest Division was held on 11th and 12th August 2011.

We reached Anchetty FRH on 10th evening along with Mr. Praveen Bhargav, and Mr. KM Chinnappa . After making arrangements for dinner, the rest of the evening was spent in listening to various incidents from Mr. Chinnappa’s vast experience.

The next morning we left for Rasimanal for the first batch training along with Sanjeev, Ananth and Aparna who joined us at Anchetty FRH reaching a few minutes before the scheduled start time of 9 a.m. However, hardly any of the participants had arrived and they all trooped in gradually and changed into their uniforms and the workshop began at around 10.30 a.m..

The morning session focussed on the importance of wearing the Khaki uniform, the duties of the staff, various methods to implement protection measures, moral conscience, importance of protecting forests, the critical role that the staff play in ensuring a sustainable life for future generations, multi-tiered protection system comprising of foot patrol + mobile patrol + Anti-poaching camps + check-posts, patrolling methods, maintaining healthy and fit lifestyle etc. Mr. Chinnappa gave several examples from his own experience in dealing with poachers, mobs, ‘influential people’ etc.

After lunch, Mr. Praveen Bhargav spoke about some of the key provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act and how the staff should use them. A demonstration on usage of weapons and their maintenance was given. Real-life situations, when staff have to use weapons in the dark, were enacted by blindfolding them and asking them to pick the correct weapon from the lot, pick the appropriate ammunition, check if the weapon is loaded or not, remove the magazine and load cartridges etc.

The workshop ended with a fervent appeal by Mr. Chinnappa to all the participants to do their job sincerely and protect the forests so that the next time he visits Melagiri, it will be thriving with wildlife. He also extended an invitation to all the participants to visit Nagarhole NP so that he could show that how a forest can be restored from the brink of destruction and also give training in field-craft.

After the workshop got over, ACF Madhu escorted us to Hogenekkal falls since Mr. Chinnappa had heard of this but had never seen them. Returned to the FRH after that and after a early dinner, we retired for the day. George joined us late that night at 11 p.m., completely drenched!

12th morning, though the program for the 2nd batch was supposed to begin at 9 a.m., was delayed by by the forest department staff. After confirming the timings with the Urigam Ranger, we reached Uganiyam at around 10.15 a.m. and began the session.

It was conducted on similar lines as the previous day. The only difference was that this set of participants seemed a little more aware of the WPA, were better able to handle the weapons and the sessions were more interactive.


Towards the end, ACF Madhu spoke from his experience and related couple of incidents to motivate the participants. Sanjeev gave the vote of thanks and handed over souvenirs to Mr. Praveen Bhargav and Mr. Chinnappa.

Handouts were given to all the participants containing important provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, Gun Safety guidelines. A copy of English & Tamil versions of ‘The Truth About Tigers’ DVD was also given to the participants, courtesy Mr. Shekhar Dattatri.

Observations:
– Some of the staff from the 1st batch need training in weapon handling
– APCs are under-staffed and probably under-equipped also
– Checkpost is manned irregularly, probably only when some FD official is visiting.
– Watch towers do not have any watchers, including the new one just before Gerhatti

Participants
11th August 2011:
Hosur, Rayakottai and Krishnagiri Ranges. 45 guards/watchers/foresters. Officers: ACF M. Anandakumar, ACF A. Madhu, ACF Padma, RFO Vishwanathan (Anchetty)

12th August 2011:
Denkanokottai, Jowlagiri, Anchetty and Urigam Ranges. 35 guards/watchers/foresters. Officers: ACF M. Anandakumar, ACF A. Madhu, RFO Vishwanathan (Anchetty), RFO Ramachandran (Denkanikottai), RFO Soligounder (Jowlagiri and additional charge of Urigam)

–
Laxmeesha Acharya

Uniform Distribution


The villages in and around Hosur Forest Division have regularly experienced crop depradation by elephants during the months of Nov-Feb. A program was conducted at Hosur on Dec 29, 2010 to compensate the farmers who have suffered crop loss. The same event saw the Hosur FOrest Division setting up a crop depredation squad of 30 watchers who would be dedicated to assist the villagers in driving the elephants back into the forests. KANS contributed to this endeavour by donating uniforms to all the 30 watchers. The kit comprised of shirt, pant, cap, belt, sweater, monkey cap, shoes and socks. These were distributed to each of the watchers by the Hon. Forest Minister Mr. N. Selvaraj. At the same event, KANS Vice-President Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, also handed over a memorandum to the Forest Minister highlighting the importance of conserving the Melagiri forests.

Synchronized tiger census in Hosur Forest Division

This is going to be an interesting excercise as all the beats (around 65) are going to be covered, and it is expected that if tigers are present they will surely show up in the census. Besides it is also a good opportunity to come across other wildlife and birds that are found in this region such as elephants, sloth bear, leopard, dhole and the nearly 200 species of birds.

Date: February 20th to 25th

Considering that volunteers will be unable to spare weekdays, please confirm your availability for the 20, 21 weekend. If you can take the time off, you can continue to participate on the other days as well.

Important: In order to avoid sending unneccessary emails to people in our volunteer database who will not be participating in the Tiger census, I request you to kindly fill in this simple 3 line form to help us keep things simple:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dEg5ZmtnelVpQjlDN1pRVUhzTDlYWXc6MA

I will be emailing a manual/presentation on the methods when I receive it from the FD to the people who register on the above link.

Best wishes
Sanjeev Kumar S.R
Vice-President
Kenneth Anderson Nature Society

Elephant calf rescue

Saravanan (Junior Research Fellow, ANCF) came across this small family consisting of a young calf, a mother and a sub adult along the banks of the river Cauvery. He observed that the mother and young calf did not move away from the banks. The mother was standing still and a sub adult which was grazing in the jungles nearby would charge out every now and then when the calf called out. It was obvious that the mother elephant was seriously ill. Saravanan managed to contact Karthikeyan (committee member, KANS) and passed on the details of the situation. Karthikeyan got in touch with the DFO and by the time the FD team reached the place next day, the mother had died sometime in the night and the sub adult was nowhere to be seen. The young calf however was standing by its dead mother when we reached the scene.
Sentries were posted all around the area in the fading light, to keep at bay the missing sub adult or any stray herds in the area. The team set about carrying out the postmortem of the dead mother amidst regular bang of fire crackers. Meanwhile to spare the already traumatized calf from any more pain, it was removed from the scene. It took all the strength of three grown men and Karthik to coax and drag the calf towards the jeep parked about half a kilometer away. As soon as we reached the place where the Anchetty stream joins the Cauvery, the little calf greedily fell upon the water and drank for a good 15 minutes.
The calf had gone hungry for over a day and day and had probably not even had a drink of water. The calf was then shifted overnight to Vandalur zoo in Chennai, where it appears to be doing well. However it is obvious that the forest department at least in this region is neither equipped nor trained to deal with such situations.

–
Sanjeev Kumar S.R
Vice President
Kenneth Anderson Nature Society.

Bandipur Night Traffic ban hearing on Nov 4, 2009

Though I had been visiting the high court for the past 7-10 days, I had never had the experience to sit through a case hearing. So, when I got a call from CWS that the Bandipur case hearing was coming up that morning, I rushed to the court. I met Poornesha, from CWS, who had also come to attend the hearing.

The hearing was in Court Hall (CH) 1. This is located on the 2nd floor. We checked the list of cases that was listed outside the hall and noted that our case was listed 75! Wondering how long it would take for the court to reach till 75, we nevertheless took up our seats and got engrossed in the various cases that were being heard. Except for the odd case here and there, most of them were adjourned and our case came up at around 12pm.

It seemed like this was most prestigous case being heard that day. From the respondents, there were 8 advocates and there was our lone petitioner!

Some of the arguments put forth by the respondents were:
– Alternate roads are not good enough and vehicles reaching bangalore were coming in late.
– As per the RTI information from Muthanga, there have been no roadkills in the past 1 year.
– The photos given by the petitioner have no supporting documents to prove their authenticity.
– Convoy system should be allowed so that a win-win situation can be achieved. This can be trialed for at least 1 week to check for its effectiveness.
– The DC cannot implement the ban under Motor Vehicles Act since it is applicable only for public convenience and safety.

Against the above, the 2 judge bench including the Chief Justice Mr. Dinakaran, stated the following:
– The traffic is restricted only from 9pm till 6am. If it were from 6pm-6am, then the court could have considered the request. But the current timings were good and all business can be done before or after that. People have to adjust to these timings
– All impleads are from people point of view. Someone has to consider the point of view of wildlife and the court is doing that.
– The question is not only about roadkills happening at night, but animal behaviour is also affected. Hence, even convoy system is not advisable.
– Under the Motor vehicles Act, traffic is not being prohibited..it is only being restricted.

Further observations and conslusions of the High Court:
– According to information received from FD, animal movement has improved during night.
– The court is not convinced to vacate or modify the ban
– All parties have to submit authorized copies of traffic regulations implemented in protected areas across the world.
– The next hearing will be in 8 weeks time.

Participants:
KANS: Laxmeesha Acharya
CWS: Poornesha H.

–
Laxmeesha Acharya
President
Kenneth Anderson Nature Society