Railway barricades to keep elephants at bay: Forest Minister

Forest Minister Anand Singh on Thursday said railway barricading will be taken up in a bigger way to keep wild elephants from straying into human habitations.

Singh also said that the government will purchase C and D class of land (mostly barren) that are purchased for mining to create wider elephant corridors.

“We have already radio-collared nine elephants to keep track of their movement. When they come near human habitation, alerts are sent out via SMS,” Singh said.

The minister faced flak from legislators who said the government’s measures to keep wild elephants at bay were futile. For instance, Singh told the Assembly that ten people had been killed due to the man-animal conflict in the Kodagu district since 2017. Also, Singh said people were injured in 35 cases recorded in the district.

Mudigere legislator MP Kumaraswamy (BJP) said the trenches were just an excuse to make money. Arkalgud MLA AT Ramaswamy (JDS) said solar fencing and trenches did not help. “They’re not maintained properly. Instead, railway barricading will help,” he said.

Singh conceded that solar fencing had not proved to be a success. “We’re already using railway barricades in some places and this will be done in other places, too. Also, elephant corridors are too narrow. So, we will purchase C and D lands to make the corridors wider,” he said.

The proposal to hike compensation for death due to man-animal conflict from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh is with the Finance department, Singh said. “Also, we will examine the demands to hike assistance for disability caused to the man-animal conflict from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000,” he added.