Steel wire fence installation progressing along forest boundaries in Coimbatore

The works to install a 10-km-long steel wire fence along forest boundaries near Thondamuthur in Coimbatore district has gained momentum. According to the Forest Department, supporting poles have been laid for the entire 10 km and works to install high-tension steel wires were progressing.

Forest Department officials said the 10-km stretch would cover forest boundaries falling under Boluvampatti and Coimbatore forest ranges. The fence would pass through Kempanur and Maruthamalai beats of Coimbatore range, which were among the locations with high incidence of wild elephants entering human habitations and agricultural fields in the Coimbatore Forest Division.

District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj said the works were expected to be completed by the end of February.

The fencing works resumed after the Madras High Court on September 12, 2025 allowed the Forest Department to continue the project, after the initial stay that it had ordered on a writ petition from an activist.

Along with the fence, as per the direction of the court, the Forest Department would install surveillance cameras for the entire 10 km stretch to assess how elephants respond to the barrier.

The fencing with flexible steel wires, which the department had earlier introduced in Hosur, was found effective in preventing wild elephants from entering human habitations and farms.

Meanwhile, farmers from various parts of the district have welcomed the progress in the works and wanted the department to replicate it in other places, where crop-raiding by wild elephants is reported high.