Thrissur: Forest Minister AK Saseendran announced the formation of an inter-state coordination committee between Kerala and Karnataka to address wildlife attacks. This decision was made during a high-level meeting of the forest department convened in Thrissur, attended by officials including the Chief Wildlife Warden.
Minister Saseendran clarified that he would not be traveling to Wayanad today. The coordination committee meeting is slated to take place on February 15 with officials from Karnataka. The primary agenda of this meeting will be to address the lack of coordination between Kerala and Karnataka forest departments, particularly regarding monitoring and managing elephant crossings across the border.
As part of the initiative, a special cell will be established in Manamukku, focusing on three forest divisions, while two additional Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) will be deployed in Wayanad. Minister Saseendran highlighted the lack of a system in Kerala to receive signals directly from elephant radio collars. Regarding recent incidents, Minister Saseendran refrained from assigning blame, citing the complex inter-state nature of the issue. He urged the newly formed coordination committee to thoroughly investigate any lapses.
Furthermore, Minister Saseendran expressed uncertainty about the number of radio-collared elephants in the state and border regions’ forests, revealing that only two such elephants have been identified thus far. He acknowledged shortcomings in information transfer and data accuracy, signaling the need for enhanced collaboration between Kerala and Karnataka authorities to mitigate wildlife-related conflicts effectively. Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan also attended the meeting.
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