The Forest and Wildlife Department is gearing up to draft an action plan to mitigate the escalating man-animal conflict in Wayanad district.
A meeting of people’s representatives and senior Forest Department officials at Sulthan Bathery in the district decided to draft an action plan to curb the entry of wild animals into human habitats on the forest fringes in the district by segregating human and animal habitats scientifically and effectively.
The meeting decided to execute the action plan in five years and the first phase of it would begin this year.
The State government had granted a sum of ₹40 crore for adopting effective steps to address the issue. The amount would be used for constructing crash guard rope fencing on 32-km stretch of forest boundaries.
The meeting also decided to conduct a feasibility study for taking more steps such as setting up hanging fences.
While C.K. Saseendran, MLA, sought 200 acres of forestland to relocate the straying simian population in the Kalpetta constituency, I.C. Balakrishnan, MLA, demanded the deployment of three of the nine newly sanctioned rapid response teams of the Forest Department in the district.
Devendra Kumar Verma, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Development and Planning); Rajesh Raveendran, Additional Principal Chief Conservator (Administration); A. Vijayanand,Wildlife Chief Conservator, Palakkad; K. Karthikeyan, Chief Conservator, northern circle, Kannur and other senior Forest Department officials in the district attended the meet.
