The Assam forest department's hanging solar-powered electric fences have turned out to be an effective tool in keeping wild pachyderms at bay, thus addressing the problem of man-elephant conflict in some forest fringe areas, an official said on Monday. Steel wires are hung in a row from a three-metre high horizontal overhead wire supported by posts on both ends. The wires are connected to a solar power system and elephants receive a mild shock if they try crossing through the hanging wires. Such a fence has been installed on the fringe of Rani Reserve Forest near Guwahati and it has helped overcome the problem of elephants destroying human settlements and paddy fields, Range Officer Manoranjan Barman said. The two km-long solar-powered fence from Nalapara to Belguri and from Mahindri to Silkhuta, built at Rs 8 lakh in Rani forest area in July last year. Dinesh Nath, a farmer from Moirapur village of greater Rani area, said the solar fence has been able to ward off depredations by pachyderms in human settlements and helped save their paddy fields from being mowed down. Forest officials said that the solution, besides being cost-effective when compared to conventional fences, has an advantage that if at all an elephant breached the fence and entered human habitations, it could be driven back to the forests by temporarily switching off the current flowing through the fence.