HASSAN: People in elephant-prone areas can heave a sigh of relief as the forest department finally took up the first phase of installing barricading with used rails over 4.5 km to prevent jumbos from straying into villages.
The barricade has been constructed between Nagavara and Purabairavanahalli -- the border villages separating Hassan and Madikeri districts. It will stop elephants from entering villages adjacent to the forest and backwaters of Hemavathi reservoir in Hassan district. The forest department has also proposed to extend the barricade to 34 km in a phased manner.
This is being implemented even as the decades-old projects for an elephant camp near Madihalli in Alur taluk and elephant corridor are still pending. Statistics available with The New Indian Express show that 72 persons have been trampled to death and 52 elephants died under different circumstances in the last two decades in Hassan district.
Basavaraj, the deputy conservator of forests, said that Rs 5.28 crore will be spent for the barricade over 4.5 km and the government has released Rs 4.65 crore for the purpose. The project will be completed as early as possible.
Welcoming the barricading system to stop elephants entering human habitats, Rangaswamy, a farmer, said the forest department should complete the project in a time-bound manner and the government should release grants in time for the purpose.
Jagannath, a coffee planter, said that the government should complete the long-pending projects for the elephant camp and elephant corridor at the earliest. The department can put an end to man-elephant conflicts if the pending projects were completed, he added.
It may be recalled that a series of protests, dharna and rasta rokos were held against the elephant menace in Alur and Sakleshpur taluks.