Kerala government has failed to address major issues of public, says Satheesan

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said that the Kerala government has failed to address major issues of the public in the State including rising price of essential commodities and recurring incidents of wild animal attacks .

Speaking after inaugurating a protest march taken out under the aegis of the Wayanad District Congress Committee (DCC) to the office of the Warden of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary on Friday seeking protection from recurring wild animal attacks in the district, Mr. Satheesan said his party would intensify agitations raising the fair demands of the public.

The sanctuary is spread over 330 sq km but it harboured more tiger population than it could accommodate, he said.  Moreover, the number of prey animals is very low in the sanctuary to cater for the need of the carnivores. Hence, the big cats were now roaming in human habitats in search of food, he said.

But the government failed to conduct any study or research on the reason for the increasing wild animal attacks in the district, Mr. Satheesan said. Thousands of farmers, especially the farmers who are living on the fringes of the forest, kept their farms fallow owing to the recurring wild animal attacks, he said. If the government continue to adopt a negative stance to the issue, the party would intensify agitations in the coming days, he added.

The protesters raised the demands such as adopting suitable measures to separate human habitat from the forest; setting up special tribunals like motor vehicle accident claim tribunals to evaluate compensation in cases related to death and severe injuries of human beings in wild animal attacks, and providing necessary weapons to the front line forest staff.