People under the leadership of K. Babu, MLA, staged a sit-in in front of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve Deputy Director’s office at Anappadi, Parambikulam, on Thursday in protest against the move to shift a wild elephant, Arikkompan, from Idukki to Muthuvarachal in Parambikulam.
Dozens of tribal women and children from different hamlets in Parambikulam joined the protest organised under the banner of the CPI(M).
Addressing the protest, Mr. Babu said that the wrong suggestions and guidelines given by the members of the forest expert committee had prompted the court to order shifting of Arikkompan to Parambikulam.
Flays suggestion
Mr. Babu criticized the expert committee’s suggestion that there were fewer people in Parambikulam. He said the Kuriyarkutty tribal hamlet was close to Muthuvarachal, where the wild elephant was proposed to be shifted after being caught from Idukki.
The MLA said that the safety of the 600-odd families living in hamlets in Parambikulam should be given priority. Quoting local people, Mr. Babu pointed out that the elephant could easily reach places such as Kachithodu, Thekkadi, Chemmanampathi, Vadakkanchery and Mangalam Dam.
He said that he would lead the people’s agitation from the front against unscientific decisions like shifting of a wild elephant from one place to another. “We will approach the court, if needed,” he said.
Protest
A collective of environmentalists in Palakkad town took out a protest against the move to shift Arikkompan to Parambikulam on Thursday. Inaugurating the protest, Goa Peaceful Society chairman Kumar Kalanand Mani warned that the arrival of Arikkompan would upset the ecological equilibrium of Parambikulam.
He said people and animals were living in Parambikulam with mutual respect. “Rehabilitating Arikkompan at Parambikulam will upset this peaceful coexistence,” he said. Wildlife Protection and Conservation Society wildlife officer S. Guruvayurappan presided over the function.
The collective reminded the authorities of the collective responsibility of the Forest department, the expert committee and the judiciary to conserve the wildlife in their natural habitat without upsetting it.
Paristhithi Aikyavedi district chairman Boban Mattumantha; convener Shyamkumar Thenkurissi; Elephant Lovers Sangham district president Haridas Machingal; nature lovers S.P. Achuthanandan, Deepam Suresh, Lijo Panangadan, Gireesh Nochulli, B. Sudhakaran and R. Radhakrishnan; spoke.
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