Chennai, Feb 22 (IANS): Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has called upon the Tamil Nadu government to take immediate steps to prevent the rising man-animal conflicts in the state.

"As many as five people lost their lives in Krishangiri district of Tamil Nadu in the last one month in the attack of wild elephants," PMK President and former Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, said in a statement on Thursday.

The PMK leader stated that other than the five persons who were killed in the past one month in Krishnagiri distirct, 152 people have lost their lives in the past three years in attacks by wild animals including elephants, tiger and wild boar.

Andbumani Ramadoss said that the Tamil Nadu forest department must form special teams to monitor the movement of wild elephants and other wild animals and prevent their entry to human settlements.

Citing the examples of Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, the senior leader said that eversince these states deployed round the clock monitoring teams, the number of conflicts and deaths have come down drastically.

The PMK President said that the wild elephants are coming into human habitations in search of water and requested the state forest department to make water hole arrangements in the forests before scarcity sets in.

He said that farming in forest areas was another major reason for the wild elephants and other animals coming in contact with humans. Urging the people not to do farming by encroaching elephant corridors, the former Union Minister said that this was another reason for the wild elephants to enter into conflicts with the human beings often leading to violent deaths of many people.