Kerala CM Vijayan calls for high-level meeting on Feb 27 to address human-wildlife conflict

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], February 24 (ANI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called for a high-level meeting on February 27 at 3:30 PM at the CM Conference Hall in the secretariat to address the growing concern about human-wildlife conflict in the state.

This comes after a tragic incident in Kannur, where a tribal couple was killed by a wild elephant while collecting cashew nuts on their farm. The deceased were natives of the 13th block, Velli and his wife Leela.

The tribal couple was attacked by the elephant just 600 m away from the Rapid Response Team office. The locals’ protest after learning about the incident sparked.

The meeting will bring together ministers from various departments, including Forest, Finance, and Revenue, as well as top officials from the forest wildlife department, state police, and disaster management authority.

They will review the measures taken to control the wildlife-human conflict and discuss ways to prevent such incidents in the future.

The meeting on February 27 aims to find a solution to the rising incidents of human-wildlife conflicts in Kerala, which have become a major concern for the state’s authorities.

Forest minister AK Suseendran has sought a report from Kannur DC (District Collector) Arun K Vijayan regarding the matter. Opposition parties BJP and UDF have called for a ‘hartal’ in the Aralam Gram Panchayat.

Kannur district collector chaired an Emergency Disaster Management Committee meeting, which decided to compensate the victim’s family with Rs 20 lakh. The forest department has allocated a financial aid of 10 lakh per victim, of which 5 lakh will be released in the initial phase.