Instances of man-animal conflict have been increasing in the State. Yet the government, which should be standing with the people, seems clueless about how to handle the situation, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran has said.
The Chief Minister and the Forest Minister are pretending not to see the panic that has begun to grip people, he said here on Tuesday.
The government seems to be unfazed on the face of challenges posed by climate change and various judgments of the Supreme Court. At the same time, 48,000 cases of trespassing into forest land have been registered. Between 2011 and 2022, as many as 1,325 people have lost their lives to attacks by wild animals. Some 2.5 lakh people were left injured and suffered crop losses. Many long-term crops such as cocoa, coconut, areca nut have suffered serious losses because of marauding wild animals. Even the pittance fixed as compensation by the government for crop loss due to wild animal attacks does not reach these farmers, he alleged.
The population of bison in the State exploded from 4,840 in 1993 to 21,952 in 2023. Of the 25,000-odd wild elephants in the country, over 7,000 are in the small State of Kerala. Wayanad district alone has over 1,000 wild elephants. Of the 190 tigers in the State, 154 are in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, he pointed out.
The population of wild animals in the forests of Kerala have reached explosive levels. Despite the seriousness of the situation, no creative solutions for the crisis have come from the government, said Mr. Sudhakaran.
He demanded that the government initiate immediate steps to discuss the amendment of the Central Forest Act and other legal measures possible to save people from wild animal attacks.
