The draft for the proposals has been prepared on the basis of the discussions held at a meeting on man-elephant conflict, under the aegis of Kodagu ZP President Shantheyanda Ravi Kushalappa.
Since there is no fodder for elephants in the forests after the mass bamboo flowering, it is proposed to plant saplings of jackfruit, mango, certain species of palm, bamboo, sugarcane, wild plantains, corn and elephant grass in large quantities and protect the saplings till they fully grow up.
Prominent among the proposals include installation of solar fence along the forest border, digging elephant-proof trenches, growing Cacti or Agave plants to prevent the earth dug out of the trenches from sliding down, growing grass varieties along the streams and other water sources flowing through the forests, constructing check-dams across perennial streams to provide watering holes for the wild animals, desilting the tanks in the forests, widening them if need arises, etc.
Since the recent increase in the population of elephants disproportionate to the area of forests available has aggravated the man-elephant conflict, it is proposed to control their multiplication through birth control surgeries.
Other proposals are: giving actual compensation to the farmers for crop losses, increasing the compensation in case of death caused by elephant attack, paying Rs. 1,500 monthly pension in case of permanent disability caused by elephant attack, paying medical and other expenses to the victims or their next of kin on-the-spot, organising forest-side residents' groups to keep vigil along the borders and paying them for the work, desilting the existing trenches, repairing the solar-powered fences, erecting electric fences and providing generators, erecting elephant-proof stone walls wherever necessary, etc. Read the full report here.
Source: Star of Mysore, Madikeri.
