Karnataka government has promised AP Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan to give 8 Kumki elephants for the state enabling resolution of elephant havoc in the border areas. Pawan Kalyan met Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Forest Minister Eshwar B. Khandre and forest officials in this regard on Thursday.
As Kumki elephants help drive away wild elephants, the Andhra Pradesh government is requesting Karnataka to send some of these elephants to drive away wild elephants which are causing havoc in a few parts of the state.
Pawan Kalyan, who holds the portfolio of Environment and Forests besides Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Science and Technology and Rural Water Supply, went to Bengaluru seeking Karnataka government’s assistance in this regard.
Pawan Kalyan called on Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah soon after reaching Bangalore in a special plane. He was accorded a warm welcome on arrival in Bangalore by Karnataka officials.
Parts of Chittoor district bordering Tamil Nadu and Parvathipuram Manyam district near Odisha have been witnessing the incidents of the human-elephant conflict. In May, the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department officials placed a request before their counterparts in Karnataka to give them nine trained Kumki elephants.
Karnataka reportedly has about 100 elephants at various camps, but all are not Kumki elephants. Kumki elephants are useful in taming wild elephants and thus keeping both animals and humans safe.
Wild elephants are entering villages in some parts of Chittoor and Parvathipuram Manyam districts. They are not only destroying agricultural and horticultural crops but also attacking humans. This has resulted in the loss of a few lives.
In May, a farm worker was trampled to death by an elephant at a mango orchard abutting the Sarakallu forest beat of the Thavanampalle mandal in Chittoor district. In June, an elephant trampled to death another farmer in Ramakuppam mandal in the same district.
In August last year, a couple was killed and another person injured in an attack by wild elephants in Chittoor district. In May, two persons were trampled to death in two separate incidents in the same district.
