Forest officials of Chittoor district have mooted convening of an inter-State meeting involving counterparts of Hosur and Vellore districts (Tamil Nadu) and Kolar district of Karnataka to chalk out an action plan to address the man-animal conflict at the tri-State junction.
The movement of wild elephants, which had been limited to the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary and the neighbouring forests of T.N. and Karnataka, has now gone as far as 150 km away from the habitat, making the efforts to drive them back into the thickets futile many times.
As against the original number of about 45 resident jumbos in the sanctuary belt, it has now increased with addition of migratory herds. This phenomenon has worried officials and general public in the backdrop of four human casualties in Chittoor district, apart from electrocution of three jumbos since June 2020. A couple of days ago, a wild elephant was killed after hit by a container near Hosur in Tamil Nadu, a few kilometers away from Kuppam in Chittoor district.
Divisional Forest Officer (Chittoor) S. Ravi Shankar told The Hindu that during the preliminary study of the elephant corridor across three States, it was observed that there was a tremendous growth in population of elephants, which in turn has led to an increase in their uncontrolled movement from TN and Karnataka towards Chittoor district.
‘We must act fast’
“We cannot let the disturbing scenario at the tri-State junction continue for long. We want our counterparts of TN and Karnataka to understand what is actually going on in our district. We also want to know the exact causes which are forcing the elephants from neighbouring States to frequently cross into Chittoor district and stay put for longer periods,” the DFO said
Taking a serious view of four human casualties due to jumbo attacks in western mandals of Chittoor, Mr. Ravi Shankar said that the inter-State meeting was need of the hour to chalk out a comprehensive action plan to tackle the man-animal conflict. The agenda would delve into prime aspects of the terrain of the pachyderms across three States and the problems such as habitat disturbances and jumbo population, erection of trenches and fencing to avoid crop raids and others.
