Wild tusker Chakkakompan destroys ration shop at Panniyar in Idukki

Wild tusker Arikompan repeatedly attacks ration shop in Idukki, causing damage and threatening its operation.

A wild tusker, locally called Chakkakompan, destroyed a ration shop at Panniyar, near Santhanpara, in Idukki on Tuesday.

The ration shop’s owner, P.L. Antony, said the tusker attacked the shop around 4 a.m. The ration shop had been attacked by wild tusker Arikompan nearly 12 times after 2019 and was rebuilt in October 2023.

“After the ration shop was rebuilt, the Forest department installed a hanging solar fencing around it. Breaking through the fencing, the wild elephant damaged the shop and toppled a flagpole erected by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) nearby. The tusker damaged the front portion of the shop, ate two sacks of rice and damaged another two sacks,” said Mr. Antony.

After Arikompan attacked the shop five times in January 2023, Idukki Collector Sheeba Geroge had directed the Harrisons Malayalam Limited, under which the shop is located, to construct a new building for the shop. Since the translocation of Arikompan from Chinnakkanal on April 29, 2023, there was no other wild elephant attack on the shop.

Mr. Antony said that if the wild elephant attacks continued, he could not run the shop. “Every attack results in loss of thousands of rupees. There were 520 cardholders under the Panniyar shop and the shop tried to ensure ration supply to the plantation workers and the local people. If the wild elephant attacks continue, the shop cannot be run for long,” he said.

Devikulam range officer P.V. Vegi said the wild tusker damaged the ration shop around 3 a.m. “The Forest department officials restored the power connection of the solar fencing on Tuesday,” he said.

According to officials, the ration shop was started in 1966.