Human-animal conflict at Aralam farm: HC directs Chief Secretary to submit roadmap

The Kerala High Court has ordered the Chief Secretary to coordinate with the departments concerned and to submit before it a roadmap about the steps that the State government would take to ready a robust defence mechanism for dealing with human-animal conflict situations in and around Aralam farm in Kannur and at such conflict areas in Wayanad district.

The directive came in the wake of an elephant attack in the area on Friday that led to the death of Aneesh A.S., a member of a tribal community. A Division Bench of Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Jobin Sebastian had observed on Friday that the fatal incident showed clear lapses on the part of the administration in taking adequate security measures to protect the lives of tribespeople in the Aralam farm area, especially those residing in the Tribal Rehabilitation and Development Mission (TRDM) area.

While hearing the case, the court directed the Chief Secretary to bear in mind the urgency of the situation and to clearly state the steps that would be taken and the time limit within which they would be put in place. Moreover, a report in this regard ought to reach the court by March 12 for consideration the next day.

The Chief Secretary; Secretary, SC/ST department; Chief Wildlife Warden, and other officials attended Monday’s proceedings through videoconference.