Coimbatore: The state government is taking all efforts to prevent man-elephant conflicts, said state forest minister Dindigul C Srinivasan.Talking to reporters on the sidelines of sports meet for forest personnel in the city on Friday, Srinivasan said the government had spent Rs 44 crore in the past four years for the purpose. “We have created elephant proof trenches, appointed more forest personnel to chase away elephants and created water sources to ensure that elephants don’t venture out of the jungle,’’ he said.Srinivasan said as a pioneer project to keep the elephants away from straying into human habitation in search of food, a sum of Rs 22 crore has been spent in the last five years to grow fodder in the forests. “This project is successfully implemented in Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Erode, Dindigul, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari where man–elephant conflicts are high,’’ he said.Reeling out statistics on the state forest department projects, Srinivasan said Rs 50 lakh was being spent on revival of shola forests in Nilgiris, Rs one crore for transplanting trees in forests, Rs 78 lakh for creating drinking water resources for tribals was being spent.“A government order has been issued to construct an indoor stadium in Coimbatore at an outlay of Rs 75 lakh,’’ he said. The salary for anti– poaching watchers has also been increased from Rs 6,750 to Rs 10,000, he said.The government has also approved a Rs 175 crore project for various development works in Anaimalai, Kalakkad – Mundanthurai, Sathyamangalam and Mudumalai tiger sanctuaries, he said.

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