BANGALORE: Karnataka government has prepared a Rs 109 crore comprehensive project to contain man-animal conflict in the backdrop of the increasing menace of wild elephants. Forest minister B Ramanatha Rai told the legislative assembly during question hour that the five-year project proposal is under government consideration. The districts proposed to be covered under the project are Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Chikmagalur, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga, Ramanagara, Tumkur, Dakshina Kannada, Belgaum and Dharwad. Several members, including Ravisubramanya L A (BJP) who raised the issue, expressed concern over the rising menace of wild elephants, human casualties and trail of destruction. Rai listed the steps taken by the government to prevent the menace of wild elephants, including building trenches, solar fences and appointment of temporary watchers to address the issue. He said steps are being taken to grow bamboo and varieties of grass to meet food shortage, and to desilt tanks in forest areas so that elephants get drinking water round the year. "There is no proposal before the government regarding implementation of an elephant corridor project to prevent the menace of wild elephants", Rai said. Deemed forests To another question from C T Ravi (BJP), he said said state government is reviewing the report on 10 lakh hectares of deemed forests. Some opposition members pointed out that the report is erroneous as it includes areas with dense population as deemed forests. It was also suggested that the forest and revenue departments conduct a joint survey to demarcate forest and revenue lands for clarity on the issue. (Source: Times of India)