Mysuru district minister S T Somashekar vows to find a solution to human-animal conflicts

MYSURU: District minister S T Somashekar on Tuesday warned forest officials of stern action if they fail to respond to the complaints by villagers on wild animal menace. He also said the issue of late harvesting of sugarcane will be resolved at the earliest.
Somashekar, who visited the residence of Siddamma, a resident of Kannanayakanahalli, and Jayant D, a boy from Horalahalli T Narasipura taluk, who were killed by leopards within 48 hours last week, also said accountability will be fixed in the forest department over increasing wild animal-human conflict.
Somashekar handed over the relief cheques to the bereaved families on the occasion. The villagers, who had gathered in a large number, aired their grievances with the minister — lack of KSRTC bus service which is causing them a lot of problem, and the delay in sugarcane harvesting.
According to the villagers, a cow was attacked in Siddanahundi area by a leopard on Monday night. But the forest department officials responded to their SOS call late. The villagers also demanded good streetlighting in the village.
The minister assured the villagers that their grievances will be addressed by the district administration and the forest department.
Meanwhile, the foresters have continued the operation to nab or kill the man-eater leopard. But there was no luck on Tuesday.