Nellol: The authorities have set up an Elephant Task Force (ETF) to resolve human elephant conflicts in the Tirurupati area after a series of incidents occurred in the village of Kosapali on April 25.
The decision was made at a virtual coordination meeting chaired by regional collector Dr. S. Venkateswar and participated by officials from the Forest, Income, Electricity and Panchayat departments. The control room will be established in Collectorate, SP offices and the Office of Regional Forest Officials to respond in a coordinated manner.
Regional Forest Official P. Vivek said 30 villages in Chinagottigal Mandal were identified as high-conflict areas. The ETF will monitor the elephant movement, remind Secretary Panchayat, and work with police and forest teams to manage the crowds and prevent retaliation.
Officials ordered the removal of illegal electric fences, lifting up and hanging wires at low levels and cleaning the forest ditch under MGNREGS. The railway will also be contacted to reduce the speed of trains in the elephant corridor, especially at night, especially near Mamandur.
Chandragiri Mla Pulivarthi Venkata Mani Prasad, who attended the meeting, recommended deploying trained trackers and ensuring quick compensation to affected farmers. Collectors directed officials to clear all pending claims immediately, or nearly Rs 4 million.
A WhatsApp team between RDO and field officials will be formed for real-time coordination, and APSPDCL is directed to work closely with the Ministry of Forests to address power-related hazards.
