Hassan: District minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Tuesday urged the forest department to strengthen the wild elephant movement alert mechanism and rapid response team. In a meeting with the officials here, the minister asked to establish a task force at the village level to mitigate wild elephant conflict. The task force must consist of ASHA, anganwadi workers, officials of the revenue department, gram panchayat, police.According to him, task forces at the village level rather than gram panchayat would be more effective. Make a cluster to reach more people with an accurate message. Force would be multiplied if these staff were utilised, he advised.He directed to strengthen the rapid response system to alert the people about the movement of wild elephants near human habitats.Highlighting the reasons for the increased conflict, he said, Bengaluru-Mangaluru highway also contributed to the conflict. Now, traditional elephant corridors have been closed resulting in the conflict. Even the population has increased owing to strict wildlife protection rules. “It is difficult to answer people during the conflict,” the minister said.The state govt is well aware of the problems being created by wildlife and thousands of crores have been invested to prevent the conflict. People demand to relocate elephants and we submitted a proposal for Union govt but the state did not get approval, he said. “Now, after two years, we decided for a soft release centre, also kind of rehabilitation centre,” Byre Gowda said.The centre will be as per the guidance of the high court. The centre would be operative in another six months.The minister also interacted with the elephant task force staff. Chief conservator of forests V Yedukondalu, DC KS Latha Kumari and others were present.
