Offset fencing begins in Jhapa

Jhapa, August 29

The residents of villages bordering Indian territories in Jhapa are likely to get rid of the perennial tusker terror as work on proposed electric fencing has begun here.

Preparation for offset fencing, which is an ultra-modern electric fencing, funded by World Bank through International Development Support Programme has been completed.

As per the plan, the fencing will be 18 km in length from Dudhe in Jirmale VDC, Ilam, to Mechinagar in Jhapa. Earlier, Forest Minister Mahesh Acharya had laid the project’s foundation stone.

However, its construction could not start given the delay in importing necessary equipment from Germany. Fenceguard, an Indian company based in Tamilnadu, has received the contract for the fencing at a cost of Rs 13 million.

According to District Forest Officer Indramani Bhandari, the project’s first phase has already started. As per the plan, trained stewards will be deployed to care for the fencing in every 10 km section. The beginning of the project has elated local villagers. “We have been facing tusker terror for half a decade now, but the project has given us hope,” said Ramesh Dahal of Bahundangi, Jhapa.

Every year, mostly during the rainy season, wild elephants from across the border create havoc in Buhundangi Shantinagar, Budhabare, and Shanishchare villages that share the border with India.