From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 12:39 AM IST

The Tamil Nadu government Wednesday said it would acquire 398 acres of private land and create an elephant corridor through Coimbatore and Nilgiri districts.

Speaking at the Biodiversity Conservation conference organised by the forest department, State Forest Minister N. Selvaraj said the corridor would be created this year.

Expressing concern over the increasing human-animal conflict, the minister said: 'Death of human beings and injury to humans due to wild animal attacks is a source of major conflict between forest enclave dwellers, fringe dwellers and the animals.'

Another area of concern was the damage done to crops and property, especially by elephants, wild boar and bison, he noted.

'Considering the critical importance of the corridors and realising the potential danger to the elephant population, steps have been taken to acquire certain private patta lands for the Moyar Valley elephant corridor and Kallar Jaccanari corridor,' he announced Wednesday.

To prevent the wild animals from straying into fields and villages, the Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned Rs. 400 million for the setting up a solar-powered fencing, covering 262.5 km, he added.

Selvaraj also said that two more tiger reserves - the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve - were being set up by the state.

A bio-diversity conservation and rural livelihood improvement project is also in the offing with an outlay of Rs.280 million for the conservation of the Agasthiarmalai range, he announced.

M. Naganathan, vice-chairman of the state planning commission said the forest department was increasing the protected area up to 25 percent of the forest area in Tamil Nadu, by declaring more areas as sanctuaries.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)