KRISHNAGIRI: After a 50-year-old farmer died in an elephant attack in Naralapalli village near Krishnagiri, people demanded the forest department on Wednesday to take steps to prevent human-animal conflict.
A tusker trampled M Venugopal, a farmer from Naralapalli, on Tuesday midnight as he went to guard his farmland.
In anger people tried to block the road on Wednesday morning, demanding measures to prevent elephant intrusion into the village.
Krishnagiri deputy superintendent of police C Murali and his team pacified the people and prevented the blockade. Similarly, Krishnagiri Forest Ranger M Muniyappan and Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) M Raja Mariyappan also arrived at the spot.
Forest department handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as interim compensation to Venugopal's family and the remaining amount of Rs 9 lakh will be released once the family submits the necessary documents.
Ranger Muniyappan told TNIE "The tusker had come out from the Naralapalli Reserved Forest and reached near Venugopal's patta land. The tusker will be driven to the Veppanahalli Reserved Forest.
Over 55 forest department personnel will be involved in the process on Wednesday night. Already, the forest department has been taking steps to erect solar fences for 10 kilometres in the Maharajakadai Reserved Forest to prevent human-animal conflict."
