Govt failed in controlling wild animal menace: SDPI Kodagu district unit president

Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) Kodagu district unit president M K Mansoor Ali alleged that the government has totally failed to protect the lives of people from wild animals in Kodagu.

Farmers, labourers and the general public are worried due to wild animal menace for the past 20 years. In South Kodagu, the farmers are losing their crops due to the wild elephants, he said.

Lamenting over the loss of lives of people and cattle during tiger attacks recently, the SDPI district president condemned the attitude of the government which is not taking the incidents seriously.

Every year, wild animal attacks have been claiming around 10 lives. But, the officials are only confined to dispensing compensation and there is zero progress in arriving at a permanent solution to the problem, he added.

The local elected representatives have only been getting publicity, instead of drawing the attention of the government. The MLAs of the region have not been seriously speaking on the issue on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, said Mansoor Ali.

People of Kodagu who have already been ravaged by floods for the past three years have received yet another setback in the form of wild animal menace, he said.

The farmers are not able to carry out agriculture for days. But, the government has still not provided proper compensation to all the affected farmers, he added.

Labourers who had come to Kodagu for their living, have been returning to their native as they do not have any work in fields and plantations. Even though the labourers and farmers are staging protests for the last few weeks, the elected representatives and officials have not bothered about it, he said.

Mansoor also said that the felling of trees in forest areas has created a shortage of food for wild animals. Shortage of water and food has compelled the animals to come to residential areas in search of sustenance.

The government should wake up and announce a permanent solution to check the wild animals’ menace, he said.

Urging the government to provide a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each, to the families of those who died in tiger attacks recently, he said the SDPI supports the farmers’ protests.