Human-elephant conflict on rise: Farmer killed in Dodamarg

Keri: The death of a farmer in an elephant attack at Morle village of Dodamarg, bordering Goa, on Tuesday, has brought into focus yet again the man-animal conflict. Laxman Gawas, 65, a horticulturist, was attacked and killed by an elephant while he was out collecting cashew nuts.

After 2015, this was the first case wherein an elephant killed a man. Earlier this week, an elephant attacked a lady, but she managed to rescue herself.

Villagers have become aggressive and are agitating for the capture of the violent elephant. We are in the process of resolving the issue, deputy conservator of forest of Sawantwadi division, Navkishor Reddy, the TOI.

Since 2002, elephants from the Dandeli forest of Karnataka have been coming to Dodamarg. Failure of the authorities to gauge the gravity of the issue and implement holistic measures has intensified conflict.

More than a dozen elephants were killed in the conflict over the past few years, and farmers are suffering a loss of their crops.

A few years ago, elephants were regularly spotted in the forested villages of Bardez, Bicholim and Pernem.

A local said that bordering villages are affected by the repeated intrusion of elephants.

Recently, the minister of forests of Maharashtra, Ganesh Naik, held a meeting at the request of the local MLA, Dipak Kesarkar, and assured the implementation of necessary mitigation measures at the earliest to sort out the menace created by the intrusion of elephants in areas of the Sindhudurg-Kolhapur districts.

He gave directives to the forest officials for the formation of a primary response team to tackle the wild elephant menace and develop a relocation plan to move these elephants to a protected area near the Tillari reservoir. Also, planting bamboo, banana, and jackfruit trees in the Tillari region was suggested to provide a sustainable source of food for the elephants.

On Tuesday, enraged villagers blocked the road in Morle and didn't allow the forest officials to leave the area unless an order was issued for the capture of the elephant. Finally, the principal chief conservator of forests approved the capture.