Karnataka - Hassan   

Bears causing havoc in Arsikere

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN, SEPT. 28. After the elephant menace, it is bears that are causing problems for the people in Hassan district.

In the last 48 hours, three people in Shishuvala village of Arsikere taluk were attacked by a bear and seriously injured. They have been shifted to Bangalore for further treatment, as the Jayachamarajendra Hospital in Arsikere lacked proper medical facilities, according to the Arsikere MLA, A.S. Basavaraju.

Not long after elephant attacks on people were reported in Alur and Sakleshpur taluks, leading to some deaths, a bear attacked Vijayakumari of Shishuvala village in Arsikere taluk. According to reports reaching here, the bear attacked her while she was working in a field near Balekere. She has been admitted to the Jayachamarajendra Hospital.

Alleged

Mr. Basavaraju said that bears had attacked many as 10 villagers in the last 15 days. He said that there were more than 330 bears in the Shishuvarla area and two bears were attacking the villagers. He alleged that the local hospital was not equipped to treat those attacked by bears.

The relatives of those injured were not in a position to shift them to Bangalore owing to financial constraints.

Apprehensive

The injured and their families were also apprehensive about getting compensation from the Forest Department, Mr. Basavaraju said.

The situation in Shishuvala was tense on Tuesday morning and the frustrated villagers chased the forest officials, who had gone to capture the bears. The villagers have threatened to set the forest on fire if the officials failed to contain the bear menace immediately.

Mr. Basavaraju pacified the villagers and appealed to the forest officials to take necessary steps in this regard. He said that he would stage a dharna in front of the office of the Forest Department if they failed to act soon. When contacted by The Hindu , the Conservator of Forests, Somashekar, admitted that the bears had attacked as many as 10 villagers. The department was taking steps to contain the menace. The department had laid traps to capture the bears. Villagers had been asked not to venture alone into the fields.

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