Elephant corridors in Keralam’s Athirappilly to be restored, says Minister

The Forest Minister of Kerala, Shibu Baby John, recently announced plans to restore elephant corridors in the Athirappilly forest range. This move aims to address the escalating conflict between humans and wild elephants. Speaking at the inauguration of the renovated entrance gate and the forest shop at the Athirappilly Waterfalls tourism centre, the Minister emphasized the government's commitment to better serving local communities.

He explained that the closure of traditional elephant routes, which elephants use during their search for water, has exacerbated human-wildlife conflict. "Blocking elephant corridors has increased the conflict between people and wildlife," the Minister stated. To tackle the issue, over 100 forest officials and watchers are currently engaged in a special drive across the State to guide 18 elephants, responsible for creating fear among human settlements, back into the forest.

This operation poses significant risk, according to the Minister. The renovated entrance gate, funded by Saneeshkumar Joseph, MLA, was part of the asset development fund. Simultaneously, a rapid action team from the Forest department had a narrow escape with a wild elephant while attempting to rescue tourists who had ventured too close to the animal on the Ezhattumukham Plantation road.

The incident occurred near the Ezhuchani bridge area, where tourists, in an attempt to photograph the elephant, stepped out of their vehicle. The elephant subsequently turned towards the tourists. Forest personnel, upon arriving at the scene, found themselves directly in the elephant's path. The elephant chased the department vehicle for nearly 200 meters.

The driving force lost control of the vehicle while reversing to escape, crashing into a culvert. The sudden impact alarmed the elephant, causing it to turn away, thus enabling the forest personnel and tourists to escape.