Nitin Gadkari praises KVIC's innovative 'Project RE-HAB'

Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Gadkari hailed Khadi and Village Industries Commission's innovative 'Project RE-HAB', which has significantly reduced elephant's presence at four places in Karnataka's Kodagu district.

Gadkari said the project has yielded very encouraging results in preventing elephants' movement into human territories in Kodagu.

"'Project RE-HAB' has huge potential and it will be soon replicated in all states affected by elephant attacks like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala," he said.

He also emphasised the participation of the Ministries of Agriculture and Environment and Forest for effective implementation of the project across the country.

'Project RE-HAB' (Reducing Elephant – Human Attacks using Bees) was launched by 'KVIC' Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena in March at four locations on the periphery of Nagarhole National Park in Kodagu district of Karnataka. It is a unique and cost-effective way of preventing elephant–human conflicts without causing any harm to the animals and the humans.

Under this project, bee boxes are used as a fence to prevent elephants from entering human habitation, thus reducing loss of lives and properties. Elephants fear that the honey bees might sting them in their eyes and the inner side of the trunk. Also, the buzz of the bees irritates the elephants the most.

Bee fences have reduced the movement of elephants at these points to a great extent, which has come as a big relief for the local farmers. Night vision cameras installed at these locations have not only shown a sharp decline in the movement of elephants in human territories but also captured amazing footage of elephants' behaviour on seeing bee boxes.

'KVIC' Chairman said that implementing 'Project RE-HAB' in other Indian states will save hundreds of human and elephant lives.

"'KVIC' is set to replicate the project in other states too, where a large tribal and rural population is living under the constant threat of wild elephants. 'Project RE-HAB' will have multi-pronged benefits. This will reduce human-elephant conflicts, increase farmers' income through beekeeping, address climate change, regenerate forest cover and ensure food security for wild animals in their natural habitats," he said.

States like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are major elephant-human conflict zones where 'KVIC' is planning to implement 'Project RE-HAB' in a phased manner. Approximately 2400 people have been killed in conflicts with wild elephants across the country since 2015.

"Through this project, the locals residing in these areas will be trained for beekeeping and will be provided bee boxes which will be used to ward off the wild elephants. Honey produced from these boxes will increase their income and at the same time, honey bees will prevent elephants from entering into their areas," said the Chairman.