Three member team constituted to tranquilise ‘killer’ stray elephant: Minister Mathiventhan

CHENNAI: State forest minister Mathiventhan on Wednesday informed the State Assembly that a three-member team has been constituted to tranquilise the stray elephant that killed four persons in Krishnagiri district in a month.

Replying to a call attention motion moved in the House by AIADMK legislator K P Munusamy among others on the issue of stray people getting killed in man-elephant conflict in the district, minister Mathiventhan said that a three-member team has been constituted to tranquilise the elephant. Also, a thirty-member team has been formed to monitor the movement of the animal, the minister told the House, adding that the elephant was in the Cauvery north forest range stretching across 100kms and fences have been erected in an area spread across 40kms.

Stating that steel wire fences have been erected for 5kms at Rs 1.75 crore and a like distance would be taken up under Namakku Naamey scheme, the minister said that a proposal has been sent for fencing another seven kms. He also added that trenches have been constructed for 300kms to prevent elephant straying into human habitations and avoid man-animal conflict.

Detailing that the state government has provided initial compensation to the persons killed in the elephant attack and the remaining of the total Rs 10 lakh distributed as compensation to families of victims of human-animal conflict would be disbursed on perusal of the legal heir certificates of the kin and kith of the deceased.

Moving the motion in the House, K P Munusamy drew the attention of the Assembly to the killing of four persons, including two women by a stray elephant in Krishnagiri.

CPI MLA Ramachandran (CPI), speaking on the motion, said that two women, Vasanthamma and Aswathamma were killed on the same day in his Thalli constituency in Krishnagiri. Hosur MLA Y Prakash, CPIM MLA Chinnathurai and PMK legislature party leader G K Mani also flagged the issue.