Man-elephant conflict study team interacts with public in Sakleshpur

Hassan

Farmers, residents and elected representatives of Sakleshpur taluk, on Monday, urged the study team, constituted to study the man-elephant conflict in Hassan and Kodagu districts, to relocate all the elephants roaming in the district. Expressing anger and repeated incidents of human loss and crop loss, the public demanded a permanent solution to the problem.

The State government has constituted a team under the chairmanship of PCCF Raj Kishore Singh to study the problem on the ground and submit a report within a month. The team held the first meeting with residents at Bage in Sakleshpur taluk.

Many people who spoke at the meeting urged the team to relocate all the elephants and ensure human loss and crop loss due to elephants are stopped. Former MLA H.M.Vishwanath said that relocation of all elephants was the only major issue that the team should discuss. “We are fed up with the problem. Wild elephants are killing local people. We don’t want you to come and give us relief cheques when our people are trampled to death. You take away the elephants. I will definitely shoot at elephant to save myself and ready to face consequences”, he said.

In an appeal to the team, residents of the taluk said that the family members of the person, who died in an elephant attack at Hebbanahalli on November 1, should get a compensation of ₹ 15 lakh and his death should be the last. The government should release ex-gratia for crop loss on the spot. The rapid response team (RRT), meant to track elephants and ensure safety of the public, should be strengthened, they said.

Sakleshpur MLA H.K.Kumaraswamy said the government’s negligence towards the problems faced by the local people had intensified the problem. The government had not taken enough steps necessary to release crop relief immediately. “Is the government facing a shortage of funds”, he wanted to know. He also criticised the Forest Department for failing to act upon farmers’ appeal to take over their land for extending the green cover. “The issue has been pending for the last seven years. As many as 416 people were ready to part with 2,900 acres of land”, he said.

The committee visited crucial places where the elephant population had been reported. It will be visiting parts of Kodgau as well. Raj Kishore Singh, who heads the team, told the presspersons that the members would visit the places and discuss the possible solutions to the problem, before submitting a report.

The people in Hassan had been demanding the relocation of elephants. “We will explore all the possibilities. Earlier also, the elephants were relocated in 2013-14. The number of elephants has gone up since then. At present, it is expected that around 65 elephants had been roaming in parts of Hassan”, he said.