A plan of Rs 15 crore has been chalked out to curb the wild elephant menace that has been drastically increasing in the region. The plan will be sent to the government soon, said Madikeri division Deputy Commissioner of Forest B B Mallesh.
Addressing an interactive meet at Press Club on Thursday, Mr Mallesh said that the wild elephant menace has grown to be a serious problem in the region. In the past three months, five  people died because of the wild elephant attack, more than 25 people were injured and have also caused huge damage to crops and property.
He said that the family of the five persons who died due to the tusker attack will be given a compensation of Rs 1.50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh will be utilised to provide compensation to 1,200 cases of crop loss.
Answering a query whether it is not possible to find a permanent solution to the problem, Mr Mallesh said that it is impossible find a solution to this problem but capturing some of the wild elephants from the herd would certainly reduce the menace to a large extent.
He said that capturing 25 to 30 elephants and releasing it to other regions is one of the plans in the Rs 15 crore project. Other highlights of the project is to install solar fences with co-operation from the farmers over 200 to 300 kms and to construct trenches to avert the attack.
He said that there is a request by the people to hike the compensation amount to the deceased members families and to provide government employment to one of the each deceased persons’ family member, which he assured will be considered.
He said that it has been estimated that there are about 58 wild elephants in Kodagu district and about 500 to 600 elephants in Kodagu district, which have been creating havoc owing to lack of food, water and shrinking size of their natural habitat.
“Every wild elephant needs 400 hectare of forest land. In Shanivarasanthe area over 26 elephants have been dwelling in 2,000 hectare which is the reason why Shanivarasanthe is the worst victim of the menace. He said a central committee has been invited to visit the region to study the situation of tusker menace in the region. About 160 villages have been declared as the tusker menace prone areas.