The repeated appeals by people affected by the elephant menace in Malnad region have found a response in the State Budget. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced ₹100 crore for constructing fences using railway barricades to restrict movement of elephants in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts.
For many years people of this region have demanded a permanent solution to the elephant menace. In the last 10 years, more than 70 people have died in elephant attacks in Hassan district alone. The elephants raid agricultural lands and coffee estates damaging the crops. Many farmers have given up growing paddy in parts of Alur and Sakaleshpur taluks due to the elephants.
The Forest Department has put up rail barricades in parts of Kodagu and Hassan to avoid elephants entering human habitats.
Karnataka Growers Federation, an umbrella organisation of planters’ associations in the three districts, has welcomed the CM’s announcement. In a press release KGF president H.T. Mohan Kumar and K.B. Krishnappa said the organisation had submitted to the government a memorandum seeking a solution to the problem. “We welcome the announcement and thank the CM”, the organisation said.
