BENGALURU: The State Government has given its nod to set up a wildlife safari in Gopinatham, Chamarajanagar district, in honour of P Srinivas and others who were killed by forest brigand Veerappan. “The safari will be created along the Cauvery in MM Hills. It will honour forest officials, including martyr Srinivas, who was killed by Veerapan in Yerekyam, 7 km from Gopinatham. The area is a part of the Veerappan trail ... but the name has been changed,” a forest official said.
Also, Rs 50 lakh has been granted for the Bird Species Conservation Programme to save the endangered Lesser Florican. “They are found in Chitradurga, Bidar and Ballari. It has been decided to scan and identify places where they are found. The CM also revived former CM H D Kumaraswamy’s plan to create a new policy enabling the government to buy land to secure the elephant corridor to ensure free movement of animals,” the official said.
The budget encourages afforestation, but with an emotional twist: Under the Smruthi Vanagala Nirmana scheme citizens can plant saplings on specified government land in memory of their loves ones. The CM also announced Aranya e-Parihara Yojane, for speedy payment of cash for damage caused by animals. The government made a special mention about creating detailed maps of all forest types and their density in Karnataka with a 50cm satellite resolution.