Inter-state panel to tackle wild animal menace, special centre will come up in Wayanad

THRISSUR: Forest Minister AK Saseendran told the media that an inter-state coordination committee will be formed to resolve the issues related to forest and wildlife issues.

A meeting involving Karnataka will be held by Thursday. Action will be taken to work with mutual understanding. In the context of the death of a farmer by a wild elephant in Mananthavady, a high-level meeting of the forest department took an urgent decision at Thrissur Police Academy.

The three existing forest divisions in Wayanad will be codified and a special center will be formed to assign task. In addition to the existing one Rapid Response Team (RRT) in Wayanad, two more RRTs will be formed. 170 of the new beat forest officers will be deployed in Wayanad.

Preventive measures

The minister said that he had communicated with the people's representatives of Wayanad a week ago and devised preventive works costing Rs 1.5 crores. This includes more RRTs and necessary tools. Solar hanging, railway fencing, elephant walls, trenches etc. are being set up.

"Despite all this, wild animals are finding other ways to stray into human settlements. The permanent solution is to provide physical conditions for them in the forest," Saseendran said. Minister K Radhakrishnan and Chief Forest Officer Ganga Singh were also present.