Chennai, Sep 10 (IANS): After napkins and masks were found in the dung of wild elephants, Coimbatore district administration has decided to fence the dump yard close to Maruthamalai forest in Somayampalayam panchayat.

Coimbatore district Collector, Kranthi Kumar Pati has directed the Somayampalayam panchayath officials to either construct a wall around the dump yard or to erect an electric fence so that elephants from the Maruthamalai forest do not reach there and eat garbage.

R. Manikandan of Centre for Policy and Development Studies, a think tank based out of Chennai and Coimbatore told IANS that wild elephants have been regularly visiting the dump yard and eating plastic materials will have serious implications for the health of these wild animals.

He said: “The smell of garbage attracts these elephants and we have already petitioned the Coimbatore district administration to construct a compound wall or erect an electric fence to prevent elephants from entering the dump yard.”

However, panchayath officials told IANS that they have been taking precautionary measures including setting up elephant-proof trenches to prevent elephants from entering the dumping yard.

A senior official of the Somayampalayam panchayath told IANS that they would soon erect an electric fence or construct a compound wall around the dump yard. He added that the district Collector has already given instructions for it.

The dump yard is spread across two acres of land and three tonnes of waste is daily dumped there. The official also said that they are yet to decide whether a compound wall is to be constructed or an electric fence erected around the yard. Constructing a compound wall costs Rs 70 lakh while an electric fence requires only Rs 20 lakh. The officer, however, said that a decision would be made based on the effectiveness in preventing elephants' entry.

Somaympalayam panchayath president, R. Ramadas told IANS that the panchayath would soon decide whether to construct a compound wall around the dump yard or erect an electric fence after studying in detail which would be more effective.

He, however, said that the waste dumping in Somayampalayam yard was reducing as the panchayath has commenced segregating the waste and producing manure out of this waste.

Wildlife biologist Ramesh Somasundaram told IANS that studies have revealed that after the elephants eat leftover food from dump yards, there has been a change in their behaviour.

He said that around eight elephants target the kitchens of houses located in the surroundings of Somayampalayam, Maruthamalai foothills Dhaliyur and Kembanur, and this was due to the change in behaviour of these wild elephants after eating leftovers from the dump yard.