Forest dept. to revamp SMS system to alert residents to presence of wild elephants

Idukki all-party meeting revamps SMS alert system for wild elephant movements, includes more languages and extended hours.

An all-party meeting in Idukki has decided to revamp the present SMS alert system to inform the people of the movements of wild elephants in forest fringes, District Collector Sheeba George has said.

An all-party meeting held in Munnar and presided over by Devikulam MLA A. Raja decided to revamp the a local SMS system, especially in Munnar.

A senior Forest department official said that the department would include more persons in the SMS alert system. “Presently, the message alert is issued from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. From next week, the alert will be issued from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. as well. In addition, the messages will be sent in Malayalam, English, and Tamil,” said the official.

According to collectorate officials, they handed over ₹10 lakh to the family members of Suresh Kumar, who was killed in the wild elephant attack on Monday night. “The all-party meeting will submit a recommendation to the government to take over the education expenses of the children of Suresh Kumar and provide a government job to a family member. The government will bear the treatment cost of the people injured in the attack,” said the Collector.

“To prevent wild elephant attacks, the Rapid Response Team (RRT) members continued monitoring forest border areas,“ said the Collector.

Devikulam Subcollector V.M. Jayakrishnan said that the compensation of ₹10 lakh was handed over to the wife of Suresh Kumar before shifting his body for post-mortem examination. “The Forest department is trying to identify the wild elephant involved in the attack. There were allegations that it was tusker Padayappa that attacked the autorickshaw, but the Forest department has not yet confirmed it,” said Mr. Jayakrishnan.

However, a senior Forest department official said when the incident occurred, Padayappa was camping near Eighth Mile, near Anamudi Shola. “Another long tusked elephant that resembles Padayappa attacked the autorickshaw,” said the official.