Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has condemned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi for her reported statement that “the Forest and Wildlife departments of Kerala was the worst in the country”.
She had made the remark against the backdrop of the death of a sloth bear that fell into a well in Vellanad on the fringes of the Neyyar and Peppara wildlife sanctuaries in Thiruvananthapuram. She had criticised the Forest department’s handling of the rescue mission after the animal drowned in the well on April 20.
Claiming the incident an isolated case, Mr. Saseendran said the bear could not be saved despite the “best of efforts put in by our officers”. “Our heart goes out to the animal which lost its life. But, blowing this unfortunate, one-off incident out of all proportions and giving it a wrong tone and tenor by making such a derogatory statement against the Kerala Forest Department is highly deplorable,” he said in a letter sent to her.
