KATHMANDU, Feb 17: As elections draw closer, Sabita Puri of Mechinagar-1 Tiring remains busy harvesting ripe mustard crops in her fields. After elephants destroyed other crops, she chose mustard as an alternative. Since elephants do not eat mustard, she says mustard cultivation has now replaced food grains on upland fields in the village.
For locals of Tiring—bordering India—as well as the entire Bhaunadangi area stretching across Mechinagar wards 1, 2, 3, and 4, a shared concern has remained the same for four decades: “How can lives and crops be protected from wild elephants?”
Unable to protect food grains, fruits, and vegetables, residents here have turned to mustard farming as an alternative agricultural practice that helps avoid elephant damage.
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As in other areas, candidates contesting the upcoming House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5 have begun door-to-door campaigns in Jhapa Constituency No. 1, carrying bags full of promises. Before federal restructuring, Mechinagar wards 1, 2, 3, and 4 were part of the former Bhaunadangi VDC. More than 22,000 voters here are now expressing a common view: they will vote for whoever can provide a solution to the elephant threat.
“So far, only one candidate has visited; others will probably come too,” said local resident Puri while clearing a pile of mustard. “We will vote this time for whoever presents a plan that gives us confidence of freedom from the elephant menace.”
Locals complain that candidates and governments have changed over repeated elections, but the fate of Bhaunadangi has not. To stop elephants crossing the Mechi River from India, the government spent millions installing electric fences. However, locals say these fences have now become “like toys for elephants.” Elephants continue to break the fences and enter villages.
Youth voter Pravesh Puri, a Grade 12 student, said that although many changes have occurred in the country, the elephant problem in the village remains the same. He said that this time, voters are asking every candidate who comes seeking votes about their “convincing and long-term” plan to address the elephant issue.
There are 15 candidates in the fray in Jhapa-1—13 from political parties and two independents. The constituency has a total of 131,067 voters, including 10,692 new voters. The area includes all 15 wards of Mechinagar, four wards of Buddhashanti, and two wards of Bhadrapur, with 43 polling stations and 145 polling centers designated.
There is no village in Jhapa-1 free from the fear of elephants. No ward has escaped crop damage, and no municipality has been spared from losing relatives to elephant attacks. As elections approach, voters here are waiting not for the usual “bundle of promises” distributed by leaders, but for “implementable solutions,” Puri said.
