Jackfruit, elephants and railway row: Kerala Assembly delivers its share of drama

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Forest Minister Shibu Baby John has absolutely no doubt that jackfruit is the one-stop solution to the menace of wild elephants in the Udumbanchola region of Idukki. No matter how many times he insists in the Assembly that there is no other fruit in Kerala as irresistible to elephants as jackfruit, surely the Opposition ought to understand. An adjournment motion moved by K. U. Jenish Kumar against the removal of solar fences along the forest fringes of Chinnakanal and Santhanpara turned the Assembly into a veritable mess, much like a jackfruit being pulled apart.

The Opposition alleged that the Forest Department had ulterior motives behind dismantling fences on revenue land. The minister maintained that only unauthorised constructions along elephant corridors had been removed and that officials had been instructed not to dismantle fences in inhabited areas. However, Jenish Kumar was not convinced. Pointing out that not even a single elephant had been so much as harmed during the Opposition's tenure, he ridiculed the minister's jackfruit project, under which elephants were supposedly expected to leave once the fruit was plucked. He argued that the initiative would do little to solve the wild elephant menace and sarcastically asked whether the minister would also announce a yam project to tackle porcupines and a coconut project to keep monkeys at bay.

Realising that the Opposition was unwilling to understand his good intentions, the minister gave vent to his pent-up frustration, remarking that convincing an elephant, a donkey or a monkey would be easier than getting the Opposition to understand his point. The comment immediately triggered an uproar on the Opposition benches. Turning to the PARIVESH portal, which deals with matters related to forest clearances, the minister hit back at the Opposition, saying that the very party members who had once claimed that a Hindi-speaking man named PARIVESH had been entrusted with the work were now criticising it. He also asked whether he should bring magician Muthukad to the area to make the elephants disappear from a place where 30,000 people and 18 elephants live together.

Meanwhile, IUML member P. K. Firos argued that the Centre had effectively granted a death sentence to the Palakkad Railway Division. Speaking during a discussion on a motion opposing the division's bifurcation, Firos took a dig at the BJP, remarking that the party's MP, elected from Thrissur, had promised to bring Thrissur under his influence but had ended up taking away the Palakkad Railway Division instead. However, V. Muraleedharan expressed displeasure over the motion being used as a platform for political propaganda against the BJP.