Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on February 17 (Saturday) ordered a high-level ministerial meeting in Wayanad on February 20 to finalise real-time and proactive measures to mitigate human-wildlife conflict in the hilly district in Kerala with an estimated 36.5% forest cover.
Back-to-back deaths in wild elephant attacks, including that of an eco-tourism guide, Paul, 52, on February 16, had forced beleaguered residents, a majority of them from settler farmer families, to observe a hartal in Wayanad on Saturday.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) issued the communique against the backdrop of largely politically bipartisan protests against the Forest department for allegedly not doing enough to protect the lives and property of citizens from increasing wildlife incursions into human habitations.
