Tusker menace: Forest dept in soup

IDUKKI: Though tusker menace has made headlines in the district, forest department is in a soup as residents are vehemently opposing the move to release captured elephants deep inside the forest.

On April 4, the department captured a rogue tusker Chullikomban from Aralam farm. The elephant had killed six people and destroyed crops in the area. The department then decided to release the tusker at Nelliyampathy .But, residents resisted the move. Then the department decided to transfer the elephant to Kodanad centre.Now the elephant is staying in a temporary shelter near Aralam.

"Recently, we planned to capture rogue tusker Arikomban from Munnar and release it in forest.People's representatives opposed us," said chief wildlife warden K J Varughese.

Forest officials pointed that keeping captured tuskers in cages was not practical.But people fear that when a tusker is released in the forest, it would return to the nearest human habitation."When an elephant is released in forest, it does not return for two days as it tries to create a habitat. There is no chance of it returning to our settlements," said Munnar DFO S Narendra Babu.

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