Following assurances, people halt 16-day-long protest

Following assurances from forest department officials, people have withdrawn their protests against the tiger menace in Southern Kodagu.

The farmers and villagers in the affected regions have been staging protests for the last 16 days under the leadership of Raitha Sangha district president Kadyamada Manu Somaiah.

The protesters had blocked the state highway, picketed the forest office in Mattigodu, gheraoed the DC’s official vehicle and had also observed Ponnampet Bandh in the last few days.

Members of Raitha Sangha had also staged a dharna in front of the Aranya Bhavan in Bengaluru on Monday.

Manu Somaiah, addressing the protesters, said that during a meeting chaired by Forest Minister Aravind Limbavali, the officials have agreed to increase the compensation amount from Rs 10,000 to Rs 30,000, in the death of cattle occurring due to wild animal attacks.

“The forest department officials have assured of capturing the tigers which have been wreaking havoc in the region. PCCF has also assured of compensating the owners of coffee plantation, whose plantation was damaged during the tiger capturing operation using tamed elephants," he added.