kozhikode how much will it cost to keep the marauding jumbos and other straying wild animals at bay in wayanad which has the highest forest cover in the state the forest department has come up with a mammoth figure of rs 574 crore after conducting a groundlevel assessment at the human wildlife conflict hotspotthe project proposals submitted by three forest divisions have been recommended by the district development committee ddc and forwarded to the state government for funding under kerala infrastructure investment promotion board kiifb surprisingly the figure is almost twice the entire budget allocation for the department this fiscalsouth wayanad forest division has submitted project proposals worth rs 189 crore which includes setting up 103km of rail fencing 43km of solar fencing 2km retaining wall and maintenance of existing elephant proof trenches epts at a length of 15kmthe conflict mitigation measures proposed by the wayanad wildlife sanctuary wws and north wayanad forest division would entail an expense of rs 212 crore and rs 173 crore respectivelyhowever conservationists said it is high time the department focused on sustainable methods for conflict mitigation rather than indiscriminately creating physical barriers along forest fringes which would only exacerbate the humanwildlife conflictthe project proposals will turn the forest landscape into a maze of trenches and fences leading to further fragmentation of available wildlife habitat the department should not give into the clamour of the public and peoples representatives to put up barriers everywhere instead it should conduct a scientific study before proposing solutions n badusha president of wayanad prakrithi samrakshana samithi saidbadusha citing the instance of pathiri reserve forest under chethalath range in south wayanad forest division said it has an area of just 54 sqkm which is surrounded by human habitations and is cut off from other forests if we build more barriers around forest fringes near human habitations longranging wild animals like elephants would get virtually trapped inside the forest fragment and they would get restive he addedenvironmentalists said the forest department should instead focus on protecting vital elephant corridors to allow unrestricted movement of animals between habitats and also expedite the voluntary relocation of families from core area of the forestswayanad wildlife warden n t sajan too admitted that the proposals if implemented could lead to greater fragmentation of forest habitat and curtail elephant movement but we had no other way other than to propose mitigation mechanisms due to public pressure he saiddistrict collector a r ajayakumar confirmed that the proposals have been forwarded to the state government through the forest department headquarters for funding