Karnataka Forest Minister says soft-release centre will be set up to address human-elephant conflict

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Saturday said that the State government had decided to set up a soft release centre to address the human-elephant conflict, and ₹53 crore had been released for the purpose.

Participating in an interaction with local people on the conflict at Balehonnur in N.R. Pura taluk of Chikkamagaluru district, he stated that the government was well aware of the conflict and was committed to addressing it.

A detailed project for setting up the soft release centre was being prepared by officers. Once the centre was set up, the department would capture the trouble-causing wild elephants and shift them to the centre.

The department had proposed to set up the centre in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary. As per the proposed plan, the trouble-causing elephants would be captured and would be released into the wild in a phased manner. They would be kept in an enclosure spread over 20 sq km for a few months before releasing them into the wild.

Deaths

The interaction with the Minister was organised in the wake of two deaths caused by elephant attacks in Chikkamagaluru recently.

Mr. Khandre said that there had been around 65 to 70 deaths a year due to wild animals in the State. The government had been taking measures to avoid the conflict.

“The conflict has a long history. Capturing elephants and relocating them is not an easy task. The people involved in the operation died after being attacked by elephants. Similarly, Arjuna, a tusker, also died in an operation. The conflict is getting tough due to the increase in the number of animals and decreasing forest cover,” the Minister said.

The department, he said, was considering the proposal to set up a rail barricades for 140 km to avoid the movement of elephants into the human habitats. The work on laying the barricade for the 7-km stretch would begin soon, he added.

Malenadu-Karavali Janapra Okkoota convener Sudhir Kumar Murolli demanded that the ex-gratia payment granted to the families of victims of wild animals’ attacks be increased to ₹50 lakh from ₹20 lakh. Similarly, the families should get a pension of ₹20,000. He also urged the Minister to set up a fund for the treatment of people who suffered injuries in wild animals’ attacks.

Sringeri MLA T.D. Raje Gowda, Bhadra CADA chairperson Dr. Amshumanth and senior officers of the Forest Department were present at the programme.