Alipurduar: 'Dooars Honey', the answer to alternate livelihood; man-elephant conflict

Amitava Banerjee | MP | 12 June 2022 | Darjeeling: The district administration of Alipurduar had been looking for a way to provide alternate livelihood for the forest dwellers and people living in the fringe areas of forests as well as to keep the wild animals, especially elephants at bay. 

The ingenious answer they came up with is Apiculture. 

While the honey produced provides an alternate livelihood, the pachyderms are also scared of the humming sound of the bees. 

Since ages elephant-human conflict has been endangering lives of forest dwellers as well as people living in the fringe areas of forests in and around Buxa and Jaldapara in the Alipurduar district. 

These regions have a large number of elephant corridors. Every year lives are lost as well as crop loss is reported owing to this. 

"We have found out a way for the peaceful coexistence of man and beast. The answer is apiculture. The honey produced is unique and is 100 per cent pure and natural forest honey. By placing Bee Boxes in farms adjoining forests, the elephants also stay away as they are scared of the humming sound of the bees. The result has been the unique Dooars Honey," explained Surendra Kumar Meena, District Magistrate, Alipurduar. 

Around 1000 families have been included in the project totally funded by the state government. Till now Rs 1.8 crore has already been funded under this scheme. Training as well as Bee Boxes are handed over to the beneficiaries, absolutely free of cost under the "Utkarsha Bangla" scheme. 

"An estimated 10,000 kg of honey will be produced in the district under this scheme annually. The bottling and sale is being done by Dooars Honey Alipurduar District Cooperative Society Limited. We have already got a FSSAI license and have applied for Geographical Indication (GI) tag," added the DM. 

During her recent visit to Alipurduar, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the project on June 8. The first bottle of honey produced was gifted to her. In her address the Chief Minister had lauded the scheme and the efforts of the district administration to make it a success. 

http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/alipurduar-dooars-honey-the-answer-to-alternate-livelihood-man-elephant-conflict-481745