The recent visit of a senior forest officer from Chennai in connection with the investigation into the death of an elephant in the Mannarkkad forest range in the district has triggered COVID-19 fears among the forest officials in the Mannarkkad division and Silent Valley National Park.
T. Uma, regional deputy director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Chennai, and assistant management authority of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Flora and Fauna, came to Mannarkkad on Friday last and returned to Chennai the next day. She interacted with a number of forest officials and the public without many of them knowing that she had come from Chennai, a COVID-19 hotspot. A large number of Keralites who returned home from Chennai had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the State.
Violation of protocol
The current COVID-19 protocol in the State demands that all people coming from other States, especially hotspots such as Chennai and Mumbai, should go in quarantine. Forest officers here view Ms. Uma’s arrival and return as a violation of the protocol.
“More than a technical violation, it gives us shudders about coronavirus. We were not aware that she had come from Chennai,” said a forest watcher requesting anonymity.
Among those who Ms. Uma interacted with were Mannarkkad Divisional Forest Officer K.K. Sunil Kumar, Silent Valley National Park Wildlife Warden Samuel Vanlalngheta Pachuau, Flying Squad Divisional Forest Officer Siva Prasad, range officers, forest watchers, and several local residents.
Some of them said they would have excused a face-to-face meeting had they been aware of her place of travel origin.
Many apprehensive
The driver of a Revenue Department vehicle too was with her while she moved around in Mannarkkad. All of them are clueless about Ms. Uma’s COVID-19 status.
“We will be in deep soup if madam (Ms. Uma) was infected. I am sad our department ignored a vital safety protocol,” said a watcher.
