Though two people were gored to death in the Attappady region in the last two months and man-animal conflict is now on a steady rise in the region owing to acute water shortage, the special elephant squad formed by the Forest Department is finding it tough to address the situation.
Lack of facilities is often turning the wrath of the affected community against the squad that comprises a forester, a guard, five reserve forest watchers, and two field staff on daily wages.
Making the situation further difficult, the lone vehicle allotted for the squad has been under repair for the past seven months. Hindrances in sanctioning funds for conducting some important repair work on the old vehicle are causing the delay. Now, the squad is using vehicles of other sections of the department on a rotational basis to meet emergencies.
“In Tamil Nadu side, the elephant squad has permission to use rubber bullets on elephants that raid farm lands. In Kerala, there is no such permission. That is one reason for the growing resentment of the local community against us,” said a squad member who requested anonymity. The squad is only permitted to use mild crackers to scare away the pachyderms, which move into farmlands from the Silent Valley and other forests in the locality.
“It was only last week that millet cultivated in five acres of land by a few tribal families had been raided by wild elephants. But the crackers used by the squad failed to scare them away,” M. Sukumaran of Attappady Samrakshana Samithy said.
The department had handed over five special search lights to tribal hamlets in Vattilakki and Gonchiyur recently. The lights, if trained on the eyes of elephants, would cause them difficulty and they would be forced to retreat from farmlands. The squad is now demanding such lights for each tribal hamlet in the Attappady region.
