Daijiworld Media Network - Sullia (SP)

Sullia, Feb 25: The office of the Prime Minister (PM) has yet again come to the rescue of a common person in need of help. A girl student from the taluk had written to this office, saying that she is gripped by fear for having to go to school through a road infested with elephants. She had sought help of the PM in solving this problem, duly mentioning that she will stop going to school if the problem is not addressed.

The girl in question belongs to Mandekolu village in the taluk. In response to the letter, the PM's office has instructed the chief secretary of Karnataka government to take steps to address this issue and send a report thereof about steps taken to achieve this objective.

Elephants have been wreaking havoc in several villages in Sullia taluk like Mandekolu, Kanyana, Bolugal etc. Sometimes they rush towards the human habitats and scare the residents. Elephants many a time loiter on the road by which villagers, workers and students go to their destinations. Frustrated by this never ending ordeal, Nikhita N M Hebbar, a fourth standard student of Ishwaramangala Gajanana English medium school, who happens to be the daughter of Narayanamurty Hebbar from Mittila House in Mandekolu village, had dashed off a letter to the PM.

In the said letter, she explained that in spite of repeated pleas with the forest officials, the department has not been able to regulate movement of elephants, and because of frequent attacks by elephants, people in the region including students are facing lot of problems. She said she had decided to quit school if the problem is not solved. She points out that the moat dug by the forest department inside the forest region has failed to stop the elephants, which have now settled down in areas through which people move about.

Although deputy conservator of forests, Dr K T Hanumanthappa, and other senior officers visited Mandekolu and took up many measures, they have not been very successful in controlling the pachyderms. Because of lack of street lights, movement of elephants at night is not visible and repeated requests for street lights have not got any positive response from the concerned.

Assistant conservator of forest here, Jagannath, said that in connection with the subject, spot inspection was done and that a report would be soon sent to higher officials about measures that can be undertaken by the department in this connection. He said that he has discussed the matter with villagers and got their suggestions about the steps they want the department to take towards stopping the human-elephant confrontation.