COIMBATORE: The Indu Makkal Katchi on Sunday performed the gaja samraksha yajna, seeking divine intervention to reduce the number of elephant deaths in the district. The religious outfit is also expected to submit a petition to the state government, urging it to take necessary steps to reduce incidents of human-animal conflicts."Recently, many elephant deaths were reported in Coimbatore. Some of them were killed in rail accidents, while others were victims of human-animal conflicts and negligence. While the state government, along with forest department officials, has been taking necessary steps to address the problem, we felt that there is need for godly intervention too," said IMK leader Arjun Sampath.The yajna was organised at the Echanari Temple on Sunday at 6am.After the yajna, a public prayer was conducted. People from neighbouring areas such as Madukkarai participated in the event. The residents of Madukkarai had faced a lot of difficulties because of Madurakkarai Maharaj, a crop-raiding elephant, which died in a rescue operation. The residents were grief-stricken over the unexpected death of the jumbo.The outfit also held a discussion and urged people to come out with suggestions to reduce human-animal conflicts. "We have chalked out 10 suggestions, which will be submitted to the state government. We want the government to increase forest cover, provide food and water to elephants in forest areas to prevent them from straying into human habitats, install CCTV cameras along railway lines in elephant corridors and improve medical facilities for treatment of animals," Sampath said.If our demands were not met, we will stage protest, he added.