Widening elephant corridors via compensatory afforestation

Forest Department aims to facilitate their free movement and reduce conflicts
In a move that could augur well for the future of elephants, the Forest Department is set to procure large swathes of revenue land abutting identified elephant corridors to facilitate their free movement at critical links along the established migratory path.

Deputy Conservator of Forests of MM Hills V. Yedukondalu told The Hindu that the focus area will be around the M.M. Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the Biligiriranga Tiger Reserve, where companies will purchase private land and transfer it to the Forest Department.

P. Sridhar, PCCF (Head of Forest Force), said that it was being promoted under the compensatory afforestation scheme in which industries allotted land, anywhere in the State, have to compensate for it by procuring private land abutting forest boundaries.

The thrust is on procuring land abutting forest corridors to ease wildlife migration and reduce human-animal conflict on the fringes.

About 125 acres of land at Badarayanahalli have already been procured by a private firm and the process of transferring it to the Department is on.

“We have identified suitable land to widen the existing elephant and wildlife corridors besides sensitive areas close to the forest boundary where animals tend to come out and stray into human habitation,” said the official.

In all, nearly 1000 acres have been identified for procurement in the long run, said Mr. Yedukondalu.

The Edayarahalli-Doddasampige corridor is also set for expansion for which the authorities have planned to procure 150 acres of land.

“The corridor connects the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple and MM Hills wildlife sanctuaries and is at present around 1.5 km in length. We plan to extend it by another 500 metres and widen the existing corridor to 2 km,” said the official.

Of the 150 acres proposed, around 100 acres will be on the MM Hills side close to Budipadaga village.

Incidentally, an NGO, Wildlife Trust of India, procured nearly 25 acres of land from farmers and handed it over to the State government to secure the Edayarahalli-Doddasampige corridor some years ago and the same was poised for expansion.

Santosh Kumar, wildlife activist, said the plan was welcome provided the local community volunteered to surrender the land besides being paid the market rate as compensation.

However, Mr. Yedukondalu said that people were keen to sell their land as agriculture was under rain-fed conditions and seasonal.

“This is a win-win situation for both the local community and wildlife and will help mitigate conflicts,” he added.

The bulk of the proposed acquisition will be in Chamarajanagar district which is home to Bandipur, BRT Tiger Reserve, MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, which support nearly 3,000 elephants and the land acquisition will widen their migratory path and ease their movement.

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Karnataka forest official killed by elephant while inspecting forest fire

The Karnataka forest department has instructed its staff to exercise utmost caution while tackling forest fire after an elephant killed an officer in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, on Saturday.

The officer, S Manikandan, 45, director of the reserve, was killed in the DB Kuppe forest range when he was inspecting damage caused by a forest fire. He was cremated with full state honours in his home town Cumbum in Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

There were reports that the team had ignored precautionary measures while venturing into the fire-hit part of the forest.

Apparently, they were not carrying any firearm when the incident took place. The elephants presence could not be detected because of thick smoke, which had enveloped the forest.

Rogue elephants are extremely hostile. Moreover, a wild animal becomes agitated when it gets stuck in a forest fire. One must be extremely careful while visiting fire-hit forests because animals can turn up from any direction to escape the fire. This was a highly unfortunate incident, a first-time in recent years that an IFS officer was killed such a way, remarked wildlife activist B Manjunath.

An official, close to minister for forests, environment and ecology B Ramanath Rai, said the government reviewed the situation in the wake of Saturdays incident.

All officers and staffers have been strictly asked to carry firearms when venturing into the forests. With the summer already setting in, incidents of forest fires will rise. Our staffers have to be on guard.

According to eyewitnesses, the incident lasted for a few seconds resulting in the tragedy. The forest officials, along with Manikandan, and a local RFO, were assessing the damage caused when the elephant attacked from behind. While the RFO managed to escape, Manikandan slipped and fell to the ground and the elephant killed him.

Though his staff rushed him to HD Kote Hospital, he could not make it.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the death of Manikandan in their tweets, praising him for his work.

Manikandan is credited with working tirelessly to end the rising incidents of human-animal conflicts in many parts of Karnataka. A 2001 batch officer, he had worked in Bidar, Raichur, Ballari and Bengaluru. He had spent considerable time in Karnataka pursuing his academics.

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