PK to Attend Ceremonial Handover of Kumkis to AP

Vijayawada: Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan will be reaching Bengaluru for the ceremonial hand over of the kumki elephants by the Karnataka government to Andhra Pradesh around noon on Wednesday.

The office of the Deputy CM confirmed his tour programme here on Monday.

PK would be accompanied by senior forest officials to oversee the entire process of official hand over of the kumki elephants to the AP government.

Sources from the forest department said the Karnataka government will arrange the transportation of the kumkis all the way from Bengaluru to Palamaner in Chittoor district, covering a distance of nearly 147km.

These would be sheltered at Palamaner Elephant Camp.

Along with kumkis, mahouts and kavadis (assistants) who are familiar with them from Karnataka would also arrive at the Palamaner camp to stay put for a few days to help the pachyderms to acclimatise with the local weather conditions and to feel comfortable.

Though Karnataka’s forest minister Eshwar Khandre announced that six kumkis would be handed over to AP, the AP officials are yet to get the details of the programme.

Forest officials in Chittoor district are taking up preparatory works to shelter the kumkis that are to be brought from Karnataka, to see that they face no trouble in the new environment.

AP has been eagerly waiting for the arrival of kumkis for several months in view of the intensity of the elephant menace resulting in the killing of people and destroyal of crops mainly in Chittoor, Tirupati, Annamayya and Parvathipuram Manyam districts.

A senior forest official said, “The services of kumkis from Karnataka will be used initially in trouble-prone Rayalaseema districts to control man-animal conflict. Gradually, our trained personnel will take control of them.”