Wild elephant attack: Kerala hamlet witnesses protest

PTI Kochi: Kuttampuzha, a forest-fringe village here, witnessed a protest by local people over the death of a man who was trampled to death by a wild elephant. The deceased man, Eldose (40), a native of Knachery here, met with the tragic end on Monday night while he was walking home after reaching the area by a KSRTC bus in Urulanthanni in Kuttampuzha panchayat. His disfigured body was later found by a local man. Local people said Eldose was a bachelor and the only breadwinner of his family, comprising aged parents and a sister.

Angry villagers staged a protest in the area for hours on Monday night alleging the forest officials’ lack of effective interventions to address the human-animal conflict. They did not even allow the authorities to shift Eldose’s body from the place till the wee hours of Tuesday, demanding adequate compensation to his family and a permanent solution to the increasing human-animal conflict. District Collector N S K Umesh and people’s representatives also had to face the heat of the villagers’ protest. At one point, the Collector even had to request the angry people with folded hands to allow the shifting of the body to the hospital. He later assured a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the deceased man’s family and announced a review meeting on December 27 to address various matters in this regard. Meanwhile, forest officials began the digging of a trench to prevent wild animals from entering the village. The post-mortem procedures of Eldose were completed on Tuesday morning, and the body was kept at his house for the public to pay their homage. A people’s hartal was also organised in Kothamangalam and Kuttampuzha over the incident. Both the state government and the opposition UDF described the death of the man as “unfortunate”.

While Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran said the protest staged by local people could not be considered as unjustified, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said the human-animal conflict has been increasing in forest fringe areas of the state. However, the minister said all the blame could not be put on the head of the forest department in all such incidents. Erecting streetlights in forest fringe areas is the responsibility of the LSGD institutions, he told the media. He also wanted people to be convinced about the danger of constructing roads through the forest areas. LoP Satheesan said thousands of people had een killed in wildlife attacks in the state in recent years.