Vijayawada: Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan met Karnataka's chief minister Siddaramaiah and forest minister Ishwar Khandre in Bengaluru on Thursday and discussed ways to check elephant menace in AP and smuggling of red sandalwood logs.
Pawan Kalyan, who handles the forest portfolio, was in Bengaluru on an invitation from Karnataka’s forest minister. They discussed the taming of elephants and training of mahouts. Senior forest officials from both states were present.
Kayan later told the media “The Karnataka government has agreed to give 8 Kumki elephants that we asked from it to manage wild elephants in AP. Due to this, damage to crops and property caused by elephants in the AP will be reduced.”
“We also discussed the opportunities for eco-tourism, like safari and jungle tours and the promotion of environmentally friendly eco-tourism. The Karnataka government has requested us to allot suitable land for the construction of Yatrikula Sadan in forest areas. I will sound out Chief Minister Naidu on this and seek to allocate suitable places," he said.
Pawan Kalyan and Ishwar Khandre jointly addressed the media. Kalyan said forest officials of the two states will jointly take decisions in future on key issues.
The deputy CM said the two states signed MoUs on various issues. "During a recent review with the officials, I was told about a serious problem of elephants in the villages of Chittoor district along the Karnataka border as well as in the Parvathipuram Manyam area. Due to the destruction of the crops by elephants, there has been a huge loss of property. There was the loss of life too. I was told that Kumki elephants of the Karnataka Forest Department can be of help. When the matter was raised with Karnataka, they invited me to Bangalore.”
Pawan Kalyan stated, “Seven specific topics were discussed. These included the cutting of red sandalwood in Seshachalam forests. We asked Karnataka to focus on the illegal movement of AP’s red sandalwood to other countries. Red sandalwood is being smuggled illegally from AP to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.”
“Karnataka officials said they have seized red sandalwood worth `140 crore from smuggler gangs. This is kept with the Karnataka forest department. We will discuss this matter in detail later and see how to take this back to Andhra Pradesh. We have decided to have satellite-based surveillance against such smuggling,” he added.
