Bengaluru: Cows scavenging through garbage are a common sight in cities, but on Monday a far more alarming scene unfolded at Male Mahadeshwara Hills when an elephant was spotted rummaging through a mound of plastic-laden waste in search of food.
The disturbing sight came amid a massive influx of devotees to Karnataka’s second-richest temple on an auspicious Amavasya day. The weekend-long rush of lakhs of pilgrims reportedly left behind tons of solid waste scattered across the hill shrine town, turning parts of the ecologically sensitive landscape into makeshift dumping grounds.
Forest department sources said devotees began arriving in large numbers from Saturday, triggering unregulated disposal of waste and exposing the strain on one of the state’s most sensitive forest regions. Plastic bags, food leftovers, disposable plates, bottles and sanitary waste were found strewn along roadsides, drainage channels and forest fringes, in violation of environmental norms.
Forest personnel also spotted wildlife, including elephants and other herbivores, being drawn to garbage dumps in search of food, raising concerns over behavioural change and the risk of plastic ingestion, digestive blockages and poisoning. Male Mahadeshwara Temple lies within the ecologically fragile landscape at the intersection of the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, forming a critical ecological corridor that facilitates elephant and tiger movement between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Conservationists warn that such unmanaged waste accumulation in pilgrimage hotspots inside forest zones poses a direct threat to wildlife and habitat integrity, apart from increasing the risk of disease outbreaks. The landscape supports rich biodiversity, including tigers, leopards, elephants, dholes, sloth bears and gaurs, all dependent on undisturbed forest continuity.
A conservation volunteer at MM Hills said: “Previously when the chief minister had chaired a review meeting of the Shri Male Mahadeswara Swamy Kshethra Development Authority, it was resolved to set up a waste segregation centre and STP keeping in mind the ecological importance of the region. But till date there is no sign of completion of those works.”
After photographs of reckless dumping of waste and elephants searching for food in the garbage went viral online, the authority reportedly resorted to damage control measures. “Officials buried the waste using backhoes at some stretches and set fire to the heaps of waste in other places,” sources said.
Kumar Pushkar, IFS, principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife), said: “The issue has come to the department’s notice. I’ve asked the Chamarajanagar CCF to visit the site and issue notices to the authority besides booking a case under the Wildlife Protection Act.”
