Bargarh: A 100 km long and two-km wide stretch along the western boundary of Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS), in Odisha’s Bargarh district, has been declared an ‘zero electrocution’ and ‘shock free’ zone by residents of 68 villages and forest department officials. The remaining boundary falls between the Mahanadi River and the Hirakud Dam and is primarily wetland, where animals face negligible threat from humans.
“There are 68 villages along the western boundary. The population of these villages range between 200 and 1,000 each. These people are heavily dependent on Debrigarh for their day-to-day activities. They have now realised the importance of conservation of the forest and its wildlife and joined hands to declare the zone ‘shock free’. While one km of this is within the boundary of DWS, the other km is outside,” explained Anshu Pragyan Das, divisional forest officer, Hirakud Wildlife Division and DWS.
According to her, several Schedule-I animals, including tigers and leopards, have been poached along this stretch over the last decade. The biggest threat has been from live electric wires stretched out by villagers to save their crops or kill a wild boar or a Sambar deer for food once in a while.
“Unfortunately, larger animals like tigers and leopards, who cause no harm to crops, also fell victim to such traps. It had become a necessity to turn this zone into an ‘electrocution free’ one. Twelve patrolling teams, comprising 72 squads, armed with metal detectors and live-wire detectors are constantly on the move in six vehicles along this stretch. However, we realised that total success is only possible if the villagers cooperate,” the DFO said.
Hence, elections for the Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) were held in February 2025 to elect new presidents. This was done in the presence of DWS authorities, with the aim to make this 100 km stretch ‘shock free’ for animals. A majority of those elected were women, with good communication skills, to enable this mission to turn into a success in the long run.
“There is no human habitation inside the Sanctuary as all villages were relocated in 2022-23. However, this human-animal conflict continued along this 100 km long boundary. Some villagers continued to use traps and shares, while others laid electric wires along the periphery of the Sanctuary. We have recovered wires that are 500 meters long. Hence, it was necessary to take this decision of cooperative management,” she added.
Das also pointed out how animals like Sambar or other deer, that move in herds, go into shock and suffer from stress if one of the members get caught in a trap or is electrocuted. She believes that zero poaching will increase animal population at DWS by 20-30%.
