People in Chinnakanal zone should be relocated: forest department

KOCHI: The forest department has given an affidavit in the High Court that the people in the Idukki Chinnakanal region should be relocated to prevent the attack of wild elephants in the area. The Arikomban attack area was a pine plantation in 2003. According to the affidavit, the V Gopinath committee had given a report that this area should be converted into forest land, but later it was allowed for the landless.

The forest department explained these things in a petition against the capture of Arikomban and his transfer to the elephant cage. The forest department has stated that 34 people have been killed in Chinnakanal and Shantanpara region since 2005 due to attacks by wild elephants, of which seven people were killed by Arikomban. Arikomban demolished 52 buildings in 2017 alone. According to the affidavit, 31 buildings were demolished in the last three months.

Although there was talk of shifting the elephant from the Chinnakal region to the Mathikettan region, a lawyer responded that it would be like shifting the problem from one area to another without solving it. At one point, the court asked whether the elephant could be temporarily housed in a large pit in the forest. The practical difficulty of this has been explained by the Forest Department. Some of the petitioners argued that the capture of Arikomban was necessary to remove the threat from Chinnakanal.

High Court asks

Why is there so much discomfort in being told to think of alternatives instead of capturing the elephant? The opposition is to capturing the elephant and domesticating it. The most important thing is that there should not be any threat to people's lives and property. That will be confirmed.