Forest dept issue notices to stone quarries in Gundlupet

Mysuru: The forest department has issued notices to stone quarries in Chamarajanagar, saying high decibel activity is causing disturbance to animals, which has led to man-animal conflict in Gundlupet. People are feeling jittery following the frequent sightings of big cats.
Three days back, a leopard was seen by the residents of Mahadeva Prasad Layout and Zakir Hussain Layout in Gundlupet town in Chamarajanagar district. Villagers claimed that the leopard was seen near the Government Hospital in the evening.
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) Gundlupet unit secretary Mahadevappa said that the leopard was seen by the watchman stationed at the hospital in the night, after which he shouted for help.
“The people heard him shout and rushed to the hospital. They immediately called the forest department, who visited the spot and conducted an inspection, and found pug marks. They have placed a cage to catch the leopard. The leopard had come to hunt stray dogs, from the nearby Bandipur Tiger Reserve,” he said.
However, the forest personnel who conducted the inspection of the place found no wild animal, but found that the animals are entering the towns and cities, as they are unable to bear the disturbance at their habitats near stone quarries.
The loud noise in quarrying units due to blasting, drilling, crushing and use of heavy machinery and movement of vehicles, caused disturbance to wild animals. Gundlupet range RFO D Lokesh said that unregulated stone quarrying in the region had disturbed the environment and wild animals. “I have served notices to the stone quarries. There are quarries just 500m from layouts, which cause loud noises due to regular blasting, even during the night. It has to be monitored, and action should be initiated in this regard by the authorities of the mines and geology department to whom I have written to in this regard,” he said.
RFO Lokesh said that after receiving complaints from the people, they had laid eight camera traps and a cage to track the movement of the leopard and trap it. “Since the past three days, the camera traps have not recorded any movement of the leopard, but we are continuing to track it.”