Bengaluru
In the last 15 days, 11 people have been killed in human-wildlife conflict and it is imperative to take necessary and urgent action to avoid loss of precious lives. An appeal is made to the Chief Minister to release a grant of Rs 500 crore for construction of railway barricade to prevent elephants from entering the habitual places of people, Minister of Forests, Ecology and Environment Ishwara B Khandre said.
Speaking at a press conference after a high-level meeting with the officials of the Wildlife Division of the Forest Department and the officers of the Forest Unit of the Police Department at his office in Bangalore, he said that human-wildlife conflict today is not like yesterday. However, he said that the forest area is decreasing and the number of wild animals and the conflicts are increasing.
Experts are of the opinion that this time there has been very less rain than usual and due to the problem of drinking water and food in the forest, wild animals are coming to residential areas. In this background, they discussed ways to provide suitable food for wildlife within the forest, he said.
