The Minister for Forest, Ecology and Environment Eshwar Khandre said in Bandipur on Sunday that 120 km of rail barricading has been taken up in the State this year and was on the verge of being completed.
Addressing media persons after Inter-State Coordination Committee meeting of officials of three southern states which was also attended by his counterpart from Kerala, the minister said 330 km of barricading has been done so far, and laying 120 km of barricading was expected to cost ₹350 crore. Though there was only budgetary allocation of ₹60 crore for the coming financial year works will be taken up by mopping up other resources, the minister said.
He said though there was enough funds under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) to the State, the Centre has been denying it for rail barricading.
Besides, the State was forced to buy the rails for barricading from the railways and the cost for laying 1 km length of barricade was working out to around ₹1.5 crore, Mr. Khandre added.
On management of the invasive species of lantana, the Minister said that they were looking at Tamil Nadu which had come out with an initiative to convert lantana into briquette that can be used as fuel in industries. “We will try to emulate that model,” said the minister.
Mr. Khandre also said that all three states will write to the Centre and put pressure upon it to empower the local forest officers to decide on capture of elephants that conflict with humans. At present the power rests only with the PCCF (Wildlife) and securing permission and acting upon it only adds to delay, he added.
On the issue of protecting wildlife corridors, the Minister did not elaborate but said that the government was trying to secure additional land abutting the forest boundaries as farmers were keen to dispose of their lands given the conflict and the resultant crop loss. This will help augment the forest area, said the Minister.
With regard to Karnataka government’s offer of compensation to the family of a person killed by an elephant in Wayanad in Kerala, Mr. Khandre the family rejected it on the grounds that the BJP was opposing it and did not consider it as a humanitarian gesture.
