Bengaluru: Forest Minister Eshwar  Khandre said that 310 Forest Watchers and 540 Forest Guards (totalling 850 personnel) will be appointed soon to prevent man-animal conflicts in the State.

Replying to a question by MLC S. Keshav Prasad in the Legislative Council, Khandre said that currently, the Forest Department is paying Rs. 20 lakh each as compensation to victims who have died in man-animal conflicts, while the Agriculture Department is paying Rs. 2 lakh as compensation to victims of snake bite.

Maintaining that the Department is taking various measures to keep man-animal conflicts under check in the State, Khandre said, the official notification on the formation of a dedicated Elephant Task Force for Dakshina Kannada district, where the pachyderm menace is high, would be issued soon.

This Task Force will have 32 personnel, whose job is to drive back straying elephants and to take part in wild elephant taming operations, he added.

The Minister further said that the Forest Department has signed an  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bengaluru’s Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) for landscape level management of the Asian Elephant in Mysuru Elephant Reserve.

The agreement aims to generate a robust scientific foundation for mitigating human-elephant conflicts, he added.