BENGALURU: In the wake of the rising man-elephant conflicts in four districts, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai presided over a meeting of officials and resolved to constitute an elephant task force in the affected districts to check the menace of wild elephants.
An order to this effect was issued soon after the meeting. The elephant task force, headed by the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), will be set up in Hassan, Chikkamagalur, Mysuru and Kodagu districts, where the menace is more.
The task force must swing into action with immediate effect and it must work under the instructions of the respective Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) of the circles concerned, said the state government notification.
According the order, the task force must patrol the jumbo-infested areas, monitor their movements in human habitation, agriculture fields and coffee estates, and drive them back into forests under the direction of the Deputy Conservators of Forests. They must share information about the movement of wild elephants and create awareness among the people not to move in the forest areas.
The state government directed to set up a control room in the headquarters of every task force and share the contact number with the citizens. Further, the task force members must be provided with walkie-talkies, guns and crackers which are necessary to drive back the wild jumbos into forests.
The head of the task force must deploy Range Forest Officers, Assistant Conservator of Forests and forest guards to each district task force. Moreover, three SUVs must be provided to each district elephant task force to reach the jumbo-infested areas immediately. Besides, Canter vehicles must be taken on rent and handed over to the task force.
The state government directed that the help of police must be sought at the time of driving back the wild jumbos into forests.
Meanwhile, Mudigere BJP MLA M P Kumaraswamy was allegedly beaten by angry villagers in Chikkamagaluru district on Sunday when he was on his way to express his condolences to the family of a woman who died in an elephant attack.
The MLA’s clothes were allegedly torn by locals of Hullemane village when he visited them following the death of the woman in the elephant attack. The villagers alleged that the MLA did not respond properly to provide relief to the people from continuous elephant attacks. The woman succumbed to her injuries on Sunday.
Locals say their village is being continuously attacked by elephants. They held the local administration and the MLA responsible for these attacks alleging that he did not do anything concrete to provide relief to the people from the elephant attacks. Kumaraswamy has been elected from the Mudigere seat thrice in 2004, 2008, and 2018.
Informing about the incident, the police said they took the MLA to their vehicle to protect him from the angry villagers. Later, in a video, Kumaraswamy was seen in a torn shirt and heard saying that the attack on him was well-planned and there was not adequate police security.
With increasing attacks by elephants and other animals on crops and villagers, Mudigere taluk coffee growers president Balakrishna has sought the Union government’s intervention to keep wild animals under control. He also demanded a special task force to tackle the elephant menace. (ANI)