Frustrated with the little that that the state govt is doing to mitigate the man-elephant conflict in Coorg, Nanaiah slammed the Govt in the state legislature on Thursday. Nanaiah was quoted in The Hindu stating that:
You will come to know about the seriousness of the problem only if a herd of eight to 10 wild elephants enter the Vidhana Soudha premises when the legislature session is going on. When you are stranded and cannot go back to your houses in the evening, you will be able to realise the seriousness of the problem. A large number of people in various parts of the State are going through this ordeal almost on a daily basis.
The Forest Minister responded by assuring that the elephants that have strayed into plantations, will be relocated to Nagarhole ranges and a team of 23 forest squads has already been formed to tackle the conflict in Coorg. He also said that he will visit Madikeri in August and discuss the issue with the local MLA’s and forest department officials.
Man-Elephant Conflict has been on the rise lately. Some blame it on the encroachments of forest lands and others on the mismanagement of Nagarhole forest, where the elephants do not find sufficient food and water.
In the first week of this month 3 Laborers were attacked by elephants in a plantation. All survived. A motorist was also attacked by an elephant. Interestingly, the elephant did not show any further aggression. It just knocked off the motorist from her vehicle and walked off.
