Elephant corridor in Hassan gets a push

BENGALURU: The state government has decided to restore an elephant corridor cutting through Sakaleshpur and Alur taluks in Hassan district, in a project expected to cost more than Rs 230 crore. The corridor, which has become fragmented over the years, has emerged as a human-elephant conflict zone.

The project, known as Elephant Reserve or Park, has been in the pipeline for long.TOI has learned that forest minister B Ramanath Rai has now directed department officials to explore funding options for the project as it involves land acquisition in a few villages in the two taluks. A team from the Union forests ministry is expected to visit the proposed corridor area soon.

“The forest department is set to develop an elephant corridor spread over 22,000 hectares, including parcels of government land and private land close to a village called Hettur in Sakaleshpur taluk,” said Anur Reddy P, chief conservator of forests (wildlife).

Elephants in this part of the state, he said, were struggling to find forest space due to fragmentation of their habitat and therefore, frequently ended up in conflict situations with people.

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