Nepal fence to keep elephants away may escalate into political row

Nepal has erected the 18-km-long energised fence near the bank of Mechi river that divides the two countries.

A battery-operated fence erected by Nepal along the border to keep elephants from India away is set to snowball into a controversy with the West Bengal government writing to the Centre to raise the issue with the neighbouring country.

Nepal erected the 18-km-long energised fence near the bank of Mechi river that divides the two countries with aid from international funding agencies six months ago.

West Bengal forest minister Binay Krishna Barman, who held a high-level meeting with state forest officials in Sukna in Darjeeling on Saturday, raised objection over the fence along the international border by Nepal.

Barman said the fencing blocks the natural movement of the elephants.

“The state government has already written a letter to the Centre to take up the matter with the Nepal government,” Barman said.

Every year hundreds of elephants migrate from the forests of Assam and West Bengal into Nepal through the Indo-Nepal border and destroy crops in the villages on both sides.

The animals follow a traditional corridor to reach places like Bahundangi in eastern Nepal under Jhapa district after crossing forests of Sukna and Panighata in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

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