HOSUR: With a view to preventing man-animal conflict, the State government has decided to erect solar fencing and digging of moats for a length of 250 km along the reserve forests in the State, N. Selvaraj, Forest Minister, said here on Wednesday.

Speaking at a function to distribute compensation for crop loss to farmers in the district at Dinnur near Hosur, the Minister said that the State government was taking all efforts to prevent man-animal conflict in the vicinity of the reserve forests.

Erection of 250 km of solar fencing and digging of moats would be taken up in Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, the Nilgiris and other districts soon. Of this, 50 km of moats would be dug up along the reserve forests in Krishnagiri district. Already, solar fencing was erected up to a length of 1,267 km along the reserve forests in the State.

The population of elephants in western and eastern ghats in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka account for 50 per cent of the national population of 24,000. It was estimated that there were about 4,000 elephants in State's reserve forests. Of this, 200 elephants were in Hosur Forest Division alone, Mr. Selvaraj said.

The State government had sanctioned Rs. 32 lakh as compensation to crop loss suffered by farmers. It was distributed to 669 farmers in Hosur Forest Division, Mr. Selvaraj said.