'Lifeline' fence empowers women in human-elephant conflict zone in Assam's Besorkona village

Guwahati (Assam) [India], May 30 : The installation of a solar-powered fence in Besorkona Kochpara, a remote village in Assam's Goalpara district, has transformed the lives of its residents by protecting them from wild elephants.
The innovative solution, which stretches 1.6 km around the village, has significantly alleviated the mental and physical stress caused by frequent elephant incursions, say villagers.
"This single-strand solar-powered fence that now shields our village and residences from wild elephants, has given us a new lease of life and a whiff of prosperity after a prolonged period of mental agony and threat to our very existence. This fence is nothing less than the lifeline for villagers here," said Kingish Koch, a mother of two in Besorkona.
Prior to the installation of the fence, villagers, especially women, lived in constant fear of the elephants straying into the village at night. These invasions forced them to complete their daily chores by sunset and prepare for potential emergencies every night.

This village, inhabited by indigenous Koch community and located about 12 kilometres away from the sub-division headquarter at Lakhipur in Goalpara district of Assam. Wild elephants used to enter the village as night fell and raid household after household in search of food.
The solar fence, held aloft by tree-stem posts, was installed in April by the biodiversity conservation organisation Aaranyak, with support from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Goalpara Territorial Division of the Assam Forest Department. This 2.5-kilometre-long fence also extends protection to the neighbouring No. 1 Pukhuripara village.

"Some of the women of the village like Kingis Koch, Nilima Koch, Menoka Koch, Pimila Koch took lead along with the male counterparts of the villages in installing this low-cost solar fence under the guidance of Aaranyak's technical team led by Anjan Baruah. These women villagers numbering about 18, even carried heavy tree-stem posts on their shoulders to help install the fence," Dr Bibhuti Prasad Lahkar, the head scientist of Elephant Research and Conservation Division of Aaranyak, said.
Kingis Koch said that the fence has brought improvements to village life.
"The low-cost solar fencing, which we now call our lifeline, not only protects our lives and homes, but has empowered all the women in the village who now carry on with their vocations of choices besides the routine household chores without any fear. We can now work freely in our horticulture homesteads and weave clothes, look after the children's health and education thereby contribute substantially towards improvement of household economic condition," Kingis Koch said.

Another local Nilima Koch, said that for the women of the village, who used to spend sleepless nights life had changed for the better by this solar fence. She said they had worked along with menfolk to help install the solar fence.
Menoka Koch, another local of the village shared similar sentiments. "It has been so peaceful a life for us since installation of the solar fence in April this year as if we got our life back. We can now eat, sleep, work at peace. The women in the villages have started laughing once again, their health too has improved and trauma has gone. When the woman laughs the entire family laughs," she said.
Religious and cultural activities have also resumed, with the village Kali Temple now secured from elephant intrusions. The solar fence has not only safeguarded the physical well-being of the villagers but has also restored their social and cultural vitality.