A resident speaking at a workshop, organised by Hassan district administration to hear public grievances on human-elephant conflict, at Arehalli in Belur taluk on Monday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Hassan Deputy Commissioner K.S. Lathakumari holding an interaction with the residents of Arehalli in Belur taluk on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A workshop was held to hear the public grievances on the sidelines of human-animal conflicts, at Arehalli in Belur taluk of Hassan district on Monday.
The residents complained to the officials about the problems they were facing in the wake of elephants roaming in the locality. The plantation workers had to work in fear as they could encounter the wild animal at any time, while parents were worried about the safety of their children.
They urged the government to take steps to put an end to the human-animal conflict.
The residents said that if an employee of the Forest Department died in an elephant attack, the family members of the deceased would get jobs on compensatory grounds. But, if a resident died, his or her family would not get such benefits. Many farmers had stopped growing paddy as elephants damage the crops. They had urged the officials to capture all the elephants and relocate them.
Similarly, there were complaints regarding poor phone connectivity, disruption in power supply, inadequate public transport facility among others.
Deputy Commissioner K.S. Lathakumari, responding to the complaints, said that the administration was well aware of the human-elephant conflict and the Forest Department had been preparing an action plan to resolve the issue.
The administration would take the suggestions and complaints of the public and would act on them, she said.
The workshop was organised to build the confidence of the public with respect to the human-elephant conflict.
Ms. Lathakumari said that doctors would be appointed to the Community Health Centre at Arehalli and also said that steps would be taken to address telephone network.
V. Yedukondalu, Conservator of Forests of Hassan Circle, said that parts of Hassan had been facing human-elephant conflict for more than 15 years now. The department had been trying to mitigate the problem. The work on setting up a soft release centre had begun in Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Mr. Yedukondalu said.
The work would be completed within a year. Besides, the department had appointed 140 people for the Elephant Task Force to keep track of the movement of elephants and alert the public.
Deputy Conservator of Forests Sourabh Kumar, Additional Superintendent of Police M.K. Thammaiah, and others were present at the workshop.
Published – September 29, 2025 07:48 pm IST
