With man-animal conflict on a steep rise, the year 2016-17 has been disappointing for Coimbatore District in spite of the State Government allotting more funds to tackle the issue.

As per the orders issued on March 7 by Atulya Misra, the Principal Secretary to State Government, the District has been allotted Rs. 28.25 lakh towards compensation for farmers for crop damage and to the families of those killed by wild animals.

In a letter, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden had suggested to the State Government to allot funds in affected areas. The letter also said that the rise in animal population was one of the reasons behind the increasing conflicts.

Other than Coimbatore Forest Division, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (Rs. 26.90 lakh), Dindigul Forest Division (Rs. 22.45 lakh), Dharmapuri (Rs. 22.15 lakh) and Madurai (Rs. 15.68 lakh) were also allotted compensations. The State was allotted a total of Rs. 169.97 lakh.

An average of Rs. 2.5 lakh was also allotted to 16 districts for conflict mitigation measures.

A sum of Rs. 2,67,288 was set aside for the creation of Rapid Response Teams (RRT) in the Nilgris, Krishnagiri and Tirunelveli in 2015-16.

For Coimbatore and Gudalur which has seen an increase in conflicts, a sum of Rs. 194.50 lakh was requested from the State to set up an RRT each in Coimbatore and Gudalur and a sum of Rs. 89 lakh each had been allotted for setting up the teams.