Regional holiday today, applicable to educational institutions; firing order issued

KALPETTA: The District Collector has declared a regional holiday for educational institutions. The order was issued by Wayanad District Collector D R Meghasree. The holiday has been declared in wards 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, and 15 of Panamaram Grama Panchayat and wards 5, 6, 7, 18, 19, 20, and 21 of Kaniyampatta Grama Panchayat. The order also states that the holiday will be applicable to Anganwadis and Madrasas.

The collector also ordered that all the exams scheduled to be held in educational institutions in the wards where the holiday was declared be postponed. The holiday was announced in the context of the identification of the presence of a tiger in the area. Efforts are still ongoing to release the tiger that entered the populated area into the forest. It has been identified as a five-year-old male tiger.

An order has been issued to fire tranquilizer at the tiger that reached the Padikamvayal settlement in Pachilakadu on Monday. The order was issued by Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G. Krishnan. The tiger is currently stationed in a forested field in Pulikkal. The forest department has set up a cage at the site. Kumki elephants Bharat and Surendran from Muthanga Elephant Sanctuary have also been brought in.

The tiger was spotted by NREGA workers in Cheekkalloor at around 11 am yesterday. The forest department searched the spot using a thermal drone and found the tiger in the Pulikkal area. Forest department officials stated that the tiger in question is a five-year-old male, identified as number 112 from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. After cordoning off the area, the task force started measures to bring the tiger back to the forest at around 6:30 pm. An attempt was made to drive it away by bursting crackers near Kaithakolly. The tiger jumped out of the shrubs where it was hiding and ran towards the residential area after the firecrackers were set off.