Minister orders survey of homeless tribals

Directs DC, DCF to submit a detailed report to government

The Minister who was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta and Deputy Conservator of Forests (Hunsur Division) Vijay Ranjan Singh took stock of the elephant menace in the region. The villagers flayed inefficiency of the officials concerned in dealing with the situation.

The elephants have begun straying into villages due to shortage of water and food inside the forest. There was increase in the cases elephant attacks. The Government should plan alternative to provide food and water for the elephants inside the forest, they said.

At Abburu in Neralakuppe, the Minister visited Ramegowda’s house whose wife Chennamma was killed when she was out of her home to gather firewood. Villagers narrated the incident and said the rifles provided to the forest watchers also failed to work on that fateful day.

Later, Suresh Kumar visited the Masthamma tribal hamlet and consoled the family members of Jenu Kuruba Subba, who was killed in the elephant attack. The living condition of the Jenukuruba families shocked the minister.
“Where did all the grants and funds released by governments go”, he asked the authorities after coming out of Subba’s hut.

He asked the Deputy Commissioner and DCF to list the number of tribals who are shelterless and submit the same to the government. The authorities should carry out a survey and also prepare a tentative plan budget for rehabilitation of those tribals, he said.

Sureshkumar said he would direct the Zilla panchayat to make temporary appointments under MGNREGS to guard the villages border with the forest against the elephants. He asked the DCF to make such an experiment. 

Meanwhile, MLC S Chikkamadu sought a debate over the utilisation of crores of rupees that was released under various schemes to prevent man-animal conflict in the forest.
Talking to reporters after visiting the families of elephant attack victims on Sunday, he said  the State and Central Governments released crores of rupees for solar fencing and elephant-proff trenches.

 But, the elephant menace has only worsened in recent days, he said.
He also alleged that State Government has failed to suitably compensate farmers whose crop were destroyed by wild elephants.
DH News Service