Water troughs located deep inside reserve forests (RFs) in Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur, and Tiruvannamalai are being filled up for wild animals, especially spotted deer, due to a steady rise in day-time temperature.
The Forest Department and local wildlife enthusiasts have been seeking to to quench the thirst of wild species in many forests in these districts for more than a week. As they are familiar with the forest terrain and its wild inhabitants, forest officials identify dry areas where large temporary water bowls can be placed.
They also rope in volunteers to fill water in the existing permanent water troughs in the forests. “Wild animals, especially spotted deer and elephants, venture into human habitations during summer mainly for water. Filling water troughs in RFs regularly will help,” R. Saravana Babu, forest range officer (Ranipet), told The Hindu.
Local volunteers provide water from tanker lorries to the identified water troughs and percolation ponds. Each RF, on an average, has six to seven water troughs, covering around 3,000 hectares of forests. Every load of 7,500 litres of water will cost around ₹800 to ₹1,000. Each water trough will be refilled once in a fortnight. “I have been contributing to three such water troughs within the Vellore forest range for the past few years. Forest officials were supportive in our volunteering effort towards wildlife,” said a wildlife enthusiast Dinesh Saravanan, an IT professional from Vellore.
