Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre unveils statue of famed elephant at Balle Camp in Nagarahole forest

H.D. Kote:  Over a year after his death, Dasara elephant Arjuna came alive, immortalised in a statue, at Balle Elephant Camp, D.B. Kuppe Forest Range, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve forest in the district yesterday.

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre unveiled the statue of Arjuna, which is 3 metres tall and 3.7 metres long, weighing 650 kg, which cost an estimated Rs. 20 lakh. Artist Dhananjaya of Mangaluru carved the statue, that replicates the elephant, which had carried Ambari (Golden Howdah) for eight years in Nada Habba  Mysuru Dasara.

Arjuna had died during an operation to capture a rogue elephant at Yeslur in Sakleshpur taluk, Hassan district, on Dec. 4, 2023.

Minister Khandre said, whenever there was a call for checking man-animal conflicts, especially the tiger rescue operations and to tame the wild elephants in captive, Arjuna was there. Following the death of the elephant, H.D. Kote villagers wanted the famed pachyderm to be buried in Balle itself. However, it was not possible due to some reasons and the carcass of the elephant was buried at the place where he breathed his last while the statue of Arjuna has been installed both at Balle and Yeslur.

Khandre assured that, a plan will be chalked out in the coming days to pay a fitting tribute to the might of Arjuna, with a suitable tale to tell the story of the elephant to the visitors at Balle Elephant Camp.

A report is being drafted about the extent of railway barricades required to prevent man-animal conflict. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is ready to provide required funds. Besides, it is intended to deploy drone and enhance physical patrolling at forest fringes to prevent unnatural death of animals, added Khandre.

H.D. Kote MLA Anil Chikkamadu said that the statue of Arjuna at Balle became a reality with the blessings of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. A decision in this regard was taken after much debate in the Legislative Assembly.

MLA Anil Chikkamadu also requested the Minister to take measures to distribute title deeds to tribals and draft a plan to mitigate the menace of elephants and tigers, which is especially high in this part of the forest. A requisition has also been made to the Minister to install 50-km rail barricade at the forest fringes.

Conservator of Forests (CF) Dr. M. Malathi Priya, DCFs Abhishek, K.A. Nehru and Dr. I.B. Prabhu Gowda, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve Director P.A. Seema, ACFs Madhu and Lakshmikanth, RFOs Siddaraju, Hanumantha Raju, Subramani and Abhishek, Forest Veterinarian Ramesh, elephant Arjuna’s Mahout Vinu, Tahsildar Srinivas, EO Dharnesh and others were present.