Two persons were trampled to death by an elephant in a coffee estate at Kadegarje village in Belur taluk of Hassan district on March 11 morning. The incident occurred around 9 a.m. when a group of persons, including many women, were at work in Sharada Estate.
The deceased — Chikkaiah, 50, of Kadegarje and Eeraiah, 60 — were part of a group of around 25 workers who were at work in the estate. Local people spotted the elephant moving in a nearby locality later in the day. The police and officials of the Revenue Department and Forest Department visited the spot.
Both Chikkaiah and Eeraiah earned their living by working in private estates.
Residents of Kadegarje in Belur taluk of Hassan district in Karnataka staging a protest following the death of two plantation workers in an elephant attack. | Photo Credit: The Hindu
As news of their death spread, hundreds of people assembled on the road that connects Belur and Sakleshpur. They burnt tyres and blocked the road, alleging negligence by the Forest Department. They demanded arrest of the officials concerned for their alleged failure to save human beings from elephant attacks. They threatened to continue the protest until Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai visited the spot.
Parts of Alur, Sakleshpur and Belur taluks have been facing man-elephant conflict for the past three decades. The area is home to more than 60 wild elephants, which are part of three-four groups and often pass through the plantations. Around 75 people had died in elephant attacks in the last 10 years in Hassan district alone.
In the Assembly
Sakleshpur MLA H.K. Kumaraswamy and Belur MLA K.S. Lingesh raised the issue during zero hour in the Assembly in Bengaluru, within hours of the incident. They demanded a permanent solution to the problem, citing loss of lives in elephant attacks every year.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, in his budget, had allotted ₹100 crore for barricades to avoid the movement of elephants.
