Mysuru: This year, incidents of human-animal conflict may not be on a lower scale, as there is abundant water in the forest. Waterholes and tanks in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, which went dry due to severe drought in the past few years, have come alive due to continuous rainfall in the past few days. Foresters claim that all tanks in the reserve are full to the brim after many years.Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, which adjoins Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, has major water sources like Lakshmanathirtha, Sarati Hole, Nagarahole and a number of streams and waterholes which quench the thirst of wild animals.But due to drought in the region in the past few years, a majority of tanks had gone dry, forcing wild animals, especially elephants, to stray into villages on the forest fringes. This had led to human-animal conflict. Forest fires during summer only added to the problem.Forest authorities said that rainfall in the past month had filled all 150 tanks and waterholes in the forest. “For the first time in several years, all water tanks in the forest have filled by end of June. We see rainfall from June to September in the forest, but due to cyclones, there was good rainfall which brought us great relief as it prevented wildfires and also filled up tanks,” foresters said.The forest department recently constructed canals using earthmovers, to allow rainwater to flow into these tanks.Nagarahole Tiger Reserve conservator of forests and director R Ravishankar said there are 18 tanks which were connected with solar powered pumps to pump water to tanks. As these tanks are full, pumping of water has been stopped to avoid overflowing. Tank water will be available till December and will help animals to quench their thirst,” the officer said.

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