On Friday, the Memorial of the Arjuna Elephant in the Balle camp in the Nagarahole Tiger in DB Kuppe was unveiled. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The inauguration of the memorial for the famous elephant Dasar Arjuna in the Balle Elephant camp in the DB Kuppe Nagarahole Tiger Reserve has triggered a new controversy.
Elephant of Arjuna, who died in surgery to capture the wild elephant in Hassan in 2023, was inaugurated on Friday by the Minister of Forest, Ecology and the Environment of Eshwar B. Khandre.
Minister Eulogized Arjuna for his contribution to forest operations and Dasar and said he may not be physically present, but lives in the hearts of Kannadigas.
Although the Minister and Memorial’s gesture is well intended, it is a violation of permanent instructions issued by the National Tigers Protection Office (NTCA) concerning interventions within the core/critical tiger stations.
Communication issued on April 22, 2009 is a permanent lesson for the director of the field of all tiger reserves and clauses (V) communication explicitly states that “since the core/critical stations of the tigers are to be maintained for tigers, artifacts such as endowment stones, commemorative exhibitions, characters, characters should not be designed for any cost.”
Photographer Pramod pointed out the violation and stated that NTCA Communique is clear on this issue. The memorial of the Arjuna, said, was contrary to the NTCA instructions, because the camp and the monument are in the main critical area of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.
The Arjuna memorial stands at a height of 2.98 meters, is 3.74 meters long and weighs 650 kilograms. Mr. Pramod said that the DB Kuppe series is struggling with fragmentation of the habitat and the conflict of human and the animal and the installation of the memorial leaves the same.
Similar questions were raised with regard to the bust of the conservator of forest manicandan, which was unveiled in DB Kuppe in March this year. Manicandan was director of Tiger Reserve and March 3, 2018 was trampled to death by a wild tusker when he was on duty approved by the damage caused by a forest fire.
Activists claim that his inheritance would be better maintained if the bust was installed on the forest department office rather than deep in the jungle that is inaccessible to the public.
Published – June 28, 2025 17:35
