Tamil Nadu to spend ₹180 crore over five years on human-wildlife conflict mitigation

The Tamil Nadu government will be spending ₹180 crore over the next five years to implement a Comprehensive Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Scheme.

N. Marie Wilson, Minister for Finance, Planning and Development, had announced in the 2026-27 Budget that “a Comprehensive Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Scheme will be introduced, incorporating scientific measures such as hanging solar fences, GPS-enabled vehicles for conflict management, night patrolling, security, and monitoring.”

These mitigation measures would be implemented across 100 conflict-prone villages in the districts of Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Krishnagiri, the Nilgiris, Salem, Theni, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, and Tiruppur in the Western Ghats region.

Based on the announcement, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden has sent a detailed proposal seeking administrative sanction for ₹180 crore to implement the scheme for a period of five years, from 2026-2027 to 2030-2031.

For this financial year, ₹20 crore has been allocated, and the government has issued an order to this effect. In the next four years, ₹40 crore will be allotted each year for the scheme.

Key interventions

The principal interventions proposed under the scheme include hanging solar fences at vulnerable locations; steel wire rope fencing and other suitable physical barriers; community-based protection of forests; and the participation of local communities in conflict mitigation. Community involvement has already been strengthened through 95 Anti-Depredation Committees and village-level early warning systems, including SMS alerts aimed at promoting coexistence and reducing conflicts.

The provision of GPS-enabled vehicles for conflict management, patrolling and rapid response; the strengthening of night patrolling, security and surveillance; and the monitoring of wildlife movement in conflict-prone areas are among the other measures planned for effective mitigation of human-wildlife conflict.

Forest officials said that elephant-proof trenches, solar and steel rope fencing, stone walls, fodder development, water augmentation, and regular patrolling to deter wildlife entry were already being used. Over the years, measures such as tracking animal movements with real-time alerts to communities using AI-based surveillance, radio-collaring, geo-referenced tracking, and trip-wire systems have also been introduced successfully, they said.