Guwahati, Feb 15: With the objective to facilitate human-wild animals’ coexistence in areas under Golaghat Forest Division close to the Eastern Range of Kaziranga National Park, region’s premier biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak (www.aaranyak.org) has installed and handed over to the community six solar lights in Bongkual area of Golaghat district of Assam.

The solar lights have been installed in areas close to Rohita and Bongkual forest camps where movement of wild animals straying out of the nearby protected areas, is a regular phenomenon that the local villagers have to live with.

Installation of these solar lights are expected to facilitate safe movements of villagers at night hours as these lights help detection of movements of wild animals from a distance at night. Animals including one-horned rhinos that may stray out of the KNP are sighted near human settlements in these area.

Aaranyak’s official Arif Hussain and general members, Akash Morang, Babukanta Daw, Ivan Loying, and local environmental enthusiasts Prasanta Morang, Bishnu Doley, Mohen Doley, and Jibon Doley were present during the installation.

These solar lights were procured with support from INFRA, a venture of Shapoorji Pallonji and Company. As part of its sustained efforts to mitigate man-animal conflict that has been raging all over the state due to various reasons especially shrinkage of habitats of wild animals, Aaranyak has installed and handed over solar lights to the community in many remote parts of the states.

These solar lights are construed effective in reducing man-wild animal interface by illuminating hotspots at night so that animal movements close to or within human settlements could be detected from a safe distance.

Such conflicts are omnipresent in areas close to wildlife protection areas as well as human settlements located in the vicinity of animal movement corridors.