The inauguration of a memorial for the famed Dasara elephant Arjuna at the Balle elephant camp in the D.B. Kuppe range of Nagarahole tiger reserve, has sparked a new controversy.
The memorial 鈥 a life-size sculpture of elephant Arjuna, who died in an operation to capture a wild elephant in Hassan in 2023 鈥 was inaugurated by the Minister for Forest, Ecology, and Environment Eshwar B. Khandre, on Friday.
The Minister eulogised Arjuna for his contribution to forest operations and Dasara, and said he may not be physically present, but lives on in the hearts of Kannadigas.
Though the Minister鈥檚 gesture and the memorial is well-intended, it is a violation of standing guidelines issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) concerning interventions within core/critical tiger habitats.
The communique issued on April 22, 2009, is a standing instruction to the field directors of all tiger reserves, and clause (V) of the communique explicitly states that 鈥渟ince the core/critical tiger habitats are meant to be kept inviolate for tigers, artefacts like foundation stones, commemorative exhibits, signages, should not be constructed in such areas at any cost.鈥
Drawing attention to the violation, photographer Pramod said that the NTCA communique is unequivocal on the issue. The Arjuna memorial, he said, was in contravention of the NTCA guidelines,as the camp and the memorial is located in the core critical area of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.
The memorial to Arjuna stands at a height of 2.98 metres, is 3.74 metres long, and weighs 650 kilograms. Mr. Pramod said that the D.B. Kuppe range is beset with habitat fragmentation and human-animal conflict, and the installation of a memorial abets the same.
Similar questions have been raised with regard to the bust of Conservator of Forest Manikandan, which was unveiled in D.B. Kuppe in March this year. Manikandan was the director of the tiger reserve, and was trampled to death on March 3, 2018, by a wild tusker when he was on duty apprising himself of damage caused by a forest fire.
Activists argue that his legacy would have been better perpetuated had the bust been installed at the forest department office rather than deep in the jungle, which is inaccessible to the public.