Yettinahole project: Institute to study wildlife management

Bengaluru: A seven-member team under the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will come up with a plan to mitigate and manage wildlife conflict arising out of the Yettinahole project, which has been blamed for the conflicts in Hassan division.

Over the last five years, conservationists have said that man-animal conflicts in Hassan division have increased, affecting the everyday life of people and animals.

According to the data from the forest department, the number of wildlife conflict incidents reported hovers around 4,500 every year, with elephants accounting for nearly 80%.

The plan consists of preventive, mitigation and other measures in Hassan and Tumakuru divisions as per the framework approved by the forest department.

From building overpasses/underpasses to “development and management of soft release centres for elephants rescued from Hassan landscape”, the plan seeks to address the complaints from the people in the affected area.

The WII team of over eight people will try to address the matter at the landscape level to consider the areas affected by the project. The plan, therefore, includes developing an elephant camp to house kumki elephants for managing the conflict situations. It also seeks to improve sloth bear habitats in Hassan and Tumkur.

Violation of forest rules

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has sought action for the violation of rules in 266.79 acres of forest during the execution of the Yettinahole project in the Hassan division.

The report by the deputy inspector general of forests noted that the violation in the Idahalli Amruth Kaval and contiguous Naikanakere Amrut Mahal Kaval of 10,000 acres were forests that were notified in a gazette notification of 1898. A joint survey in 2024 showed that the entire area of 10,000 acres formed part of a protected forest.

In its defence, the state government stated that the violation occurred between March 2018 and December 2019. “However, scrutiny of satellite imageries by this office, before and after 2/2/2019 (year of lodging FIR) revealed that the majority of the violations occurred during 2010-2022.” 

Further, the officer said the government has not provided documents to back its argument that the majority of the 266 acres was not recorded as forests but as agricultural lands in the revenue records.