Madikeri: Kodagu is reeling under rising human–animal conflict, and if a permanent solution is not found, people may take the law into their own hands, chief minister’s legal adviser and Virajpet MLA AS Ponnanna told the assembly Thursday.The Congress MLA said a grower was killed in a wild elephant attack in a village near Siddapur earlier in the day, while a woman died near Kushalnagar two weeks ago. A 19-year-old girl was attacked and killed by an elephant in Bettathur village near Madikeri. “Three people died within 10 days,” he said.“An alarming situation has arisen in Kodagu. Fear has gripped the district because of elephants, leopards and tigers. Life feels impossible. Farmers have even stopped cultivating paddy,” he said.Ponnanna urged the chief minister and the forest minister to “take decisions and come to our rescue”. Otherwise, “even if people take the law into their own hands, it cannot be criticised,” he said.He noted that Rs 1,500 crore was allocated in the budget for preventing human–animal conflict and requested that a large share be given to Kodagu.
