BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said under Aranya Samarasya Project, the government is focusing on measures to ensure there are zero cases of conflict, human and animal deaths. For this there is a need to improve the habitats and find the solutions to mitigate conflict.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the day long International Conference on Human- Elephant Conflict Mitigation- 2024, organised by Karnataka forest department in Bengaluru as a part of World Elephant Day.
CM said, in the last 10 years there have been 2500 cases of human- elephant conflict and 350 human deaths. The state government created nine elephant task forces and in one year 1200 conflict cases were reported to the task forces. He said conflicts are not just limited to Karnataka, but is to the entire country. The CM said that Rs 150 crore was set aside and given for conflict mitigation, a similar amount will again be released soon.
He highlighted that creating rail barricades has shown success in controlling the movement of elephants and that Karnataka was the only state that was effectively implementing it since 2015- 16. However stressed that a lot more needs to be done.
Also present on the occasion, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar directed the Karnataka forest department officials to have a humane approach towards farmers and not to harass them.
At the conference, chaired by forest department officials from the non- NDA states- Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Jharkhand and Karnataka and international delegates, Shivakumar said, his constituency- Kanakapura has been facing maximum cases of conflict. Last year there was 18 deaths. He also pointed that he has seen a herd of 50 elephants moving near is home in Kanakapura, enroute Bannerghatta- Mekedattu- Kerala.
During the inauguration DCM Shivakuumar told the forest department officials to restart the Kheda operation. He also told them to manage their own resources and not ask the government for funds. This did not go down well with forest department officials, experts and the ministers. They criticised the statements and said that Kheda operation is a inhuman practice and was stopped over two decades back.
Khandre in the southern ministers meeting pointed that funds are not allocated in the budget for forest management, and they say that the department has to generate its own resources.
On the occasion the CM, DCM and forest minister released the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for capture of Asian elephants. The ministers of other states present on occassion- Kerala forest AK Saseendran, Jharkhand minister for school literacy and education Baidyanath Ram, Telangana forest minister Konda Surekha and Tamil Nadu forest minister M Mathiventhan, said they will also adopt the same.
The ministers also awarded experts and serving forest department officials for their contribution to conservation. The list included elephant experts Ajay Desai and R Sukumar, veterinarian Dr BC Chittiappa, kavadi Rajanna (he has worked in 35 elephant capture operations and has participated in Mysuru Dasara 8 times) and deputy conservator of forests Ranjan KP.
Posthumous award was also given to Francis, son of noted biologist Dr AJT Johnsingh, Swapnil, son of noted elephant expert Ajai Desai, Sanappa, son of Dodda Masti who worked as Mahout in Bale elephant camp and Saroja, mother of Karthik Gowda J, who was part of elephant task force and died on duty.
Two organisations were also recognised for their contribution to forest and wildlife management - Wildlife Trust of India and Nature Conservation Foundation.