Seven panchayats in Kerala’s Idukki district observed a 12-hour hartal on Thursday against the Kerala High Court’s order stopping the capture of ‘Arikomban’, a wild elephant so named as it raids ration shops and houses for rice. Though the flash hartal was announced in 13 panchayats, it was later restricted to Munnar, Devikulam, Marayoor, Chinnakanal, Santhanpara, Vattavada and Kanthalloor.
The court order did not permit ‘Mission Arikomban’ by the Kerala forest department, which had been planned to tranquilise and capture the tusker that has wreaked havoc in Chinnakanal village of Udumbanchola taluk and nearby areas in the district. The local residents wanted it to be captured and kept at the Kodanad elephant camp in Ernakulam.
What provoked the hartal
The hartal was announced on Wednesday, immediately after the high court formed a five-member expert committee to advise the court on options other than catching the tusker that has allegedly killed several people and destroyed human settlements. While considering the petition against ‘Mission Arikomban’, the HC orally observed that all wild elephants could not be relocated and only a balanced stance will be sustainable.
On March 23, the HC had a special sitting to consider a petition to stay Mission Arikomban and the division bench directed the forest department not to capture the elephant till March 29, till it hears the petition. The forest department drive was scheduled for March 26. People for Animals (PFA), Trivandrum chapter, and Walking Eye Foundation for Animal Advocacy, Thrissur, approached the court against the forest department’s move.
Arikomban first spotted 36 years ago
Arikomban is a 38-year-old tusker and is so named because of its immense size and misdeeds. ‘Komban’ means tusker and it is called ‘Arikomban’ because of its habit of targeting and raiding ration shops at human settlements and eating rice, the Malayalam word for which is ‘ari’.
According to local residents, their first encounter with Arikomban was 36 years ago. The one-year-old calf, along with his ailing mother, was spotted in the lower division of Muttukad cardamom estate of Vaikundam Plantations near Chinnakanal in 1987. Back then, it was known as ‘Kallakkomban’ – the tusker who steals.
As homes were made of bamboo and grass then, it was easy for the elephant to grab the food with its trunk. In those days, there were few houses in the area. However, the scenario changed as more huts came up.
Area previously elephant corridor
In 2002, the AK Antony-led Congress government, as part of a contract, decided to allot land to rehabilitate landless tribals. The cabinet included the late KM Mani as minister for revenue, late Dr MA Kuttappan as minister for the welfare of backward and scheduled communities and the present Kerala Congress president K Sudhakaran as minister for forests.
They picked the area near the Anayirankal dam, around 27 km from Munnar, which is a popular tourist destination. Munnar divisional forest officer Prakriti Srivastava, however, wrote to the government saying the decision to allow human settlement in and around Anayirankal dam areas will not be wise as it was once an elephant corridor.
But the government did not heed the report and allowed the colony to be established. Hence, 301 acres of land were allotted to 301 landless tribal families. Soon, the area known as 301 colony housed around 400 families.
With huts making way for concrete houses, the tusker was forced to break through them to rob food. The ration shop in Panniyar tea estate was raided a number of times.
Around three years after the settlement, a majority of the families left the area. On July 26, 2005, as a reply to four questions by Paulson Master, Prathapavarma Thampan, VJ Paulose, PT Thomas and Savithri Lakshman in Kerala legislative assembly, minister for welfare of backward and scheduled communities and cultural affairs, AP Anilkumar said 387 families had vacated the land given to tribals in Chinnakanal area due to threat from wild elephants and the reluctance of forest officials in allowing felling of trees. The minister added that the vacated land was not encroached upon.
According to state revenue records, as on March 30, there are only 40 families living in the area. There are, however, 56 more families who live elsewhere and cultivate the land here.
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