BENGALURU: The State Forest Department’s plans to install a railway barricade of 21 km along the boundary of Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) seems to have hit a hurdle due to the paucity of funds and meagre budgetary allocations. Presently, only 7 km of barricade has been installed around the National Park, in the area bordering Bengaluru Rural, which has seen recurring cases of man-elephant conflicts. Considered a very high conflict zone in Karnataka, the Bengaluru Forest Circle has paid the highest compensation of Rs 3.49 crore to affected people during 2017-18 for death/disability, crop damages and other losses.
In the last year, 13 people died due to conflicts in this circle with five deaths in Bannerghatta and four in Ramanagara. According to forest officials, BNP’s mitigation measures are poor due to the lack of funds.
With various other mitigation methods having failed, the rail barricade is now being used to stop elephants from straying into human settlements. This is basically done using ‘scrap rails’ to prevent elephants and other wildlife from wandering into villages and towns.
Forest officials say the railway barricade around the park boundary, towards Bengaluru city, is very expensive and therefore they have requested the Supreme Court for directions so that the Indian Railways can provide rails at the Average Auction Rate which comes to less than Rs 20,000 per tonne.
PCCF (Wildlife) C Jayaram told The New Indian Express that a length of seven kilometers has been completed till date. He added, “If we can get these discarded rails at a lower price, work can be completed. Presently, the forest department is procuring it at Rs 35,000 per tonne. The cost of erecting a kilometer of the barricade works out to Rs 1 crore.”
The PCCF (Wildlife) further said, “We need to complete at least 20 to 25 km of barricading, with the minimum requirement being 21 km, to tackle the conflict situation. This year’s budget allocation is Rs 2 crore and therefore, 1.5 km of barricade work is going on.”Not just the BNP, the installation of rail barricades has also been taken up in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve facing Madikeri, and in the towns and villages in the Omkara to Hediyala ranges facing Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
Call For Private Funding
The state forest department said it urgently needs funds for taking up railway barricade work and if it is privately funded, the work can be finished in a year. The PCCF adds, “Presently, the work is going slowly depending on the budgetary allocations. If we can get CSR funds for this, the project can be finished within a year.”