The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation has planned to construct a crematorium on an elephant crossing zone – an act that could intensify the man-animal conflict in the Madukkarai residential area.

The plan, which is all set to get green signal from the State Government, has already received the Forest Department’s approval.

Sources say that the Corporation has sent a proposal to the Government to construct the crematorium on a patta land near Manjupallam, 20 km from the nearby reserve forest across the Palakkad Highway. A small patch of reserve forest land is also close to the plot.

According to locals, elephants move frequently in this area to cross over the Palakkad Highway and the first documented sighting goes back to 2005, when a herd of less than 10 elephants crossed the road. However, as the frequency of elephants entering into the patta lands increased, forest personnel were deployed to stop the elephants from crossing the road and venturing into farmlands.

Department officials fire crackers to keep the elephants away. Still the elephants manage to cross the road during the night and get back to their barracks before dawn. It has now become a regular happening.

The proposed crematorium, residents feel, would block the free passage for elephants. “If their movements are blocked, the animals will start coming to Arivoli Nagar which is very close by. This has happened in the past too. The man-animal conflict will certainly increase,” a resident said.

When contacted, a senior official from the City Corporation said that the plan has been cleared by the Forest Department.

District Forest Officer S. Ramasubramaniam said the department was not keen in letting the animals cross the road in the first place. “We are planning to strengthen the trenches and dig new ones in the area to stop the elephants from crossing,” he told the Covai Post.