The Kerala High Court has recently stated that the State’s reckless actions in allowing human settlements near elephant habitats have resulted in frequent human-animal clashes.
The observation was made by a division bench of Justice A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Gopinath P while considering a review petition filed by Nenmara MLA K. Babu against the Court’s order dated April 5, 2023, directing the relocation of the wild tusker ‘Arikomban’ to Parambikulam Tiger Reserve.
The review petition was filed in response to residents’ concerns about the elephant infiltrating human settlements near the proposed relocation site. However, the court refused to deviate from its previous ruling.
“The increasing instances of human elephant conflict that we are witnessing today appear to be nothing more than the unintended consequences of seemingly reckless executive action in the past. The long-term solution to the problem may lie in revisiting, and in appropriate cases reversing, those decisions and restoring to the animals their lost habitat, but that will take time,” the Court stated.
The court noted that, despite overwhelming evidence of elephant habitats, reports from the State Forest and Wildlife Department show that settlements were often allowed to be erected in places where elephants live. In the past, the government’s imprudent decisions have resulted in greater clashes between humans and elephants.
The court said that the long-term solution to this problem would be to reverse some of these judgements and return the elephants to their natural habitats. However, it was noted that restoring the natural habitats of impacted species will take time.
“There are reports submitted by the State Forest and Wildlife department that suggest that some of the settlements that have come up in areas falling within or near established elephant habitats in the State were authorized by the State government in gross disregard of the safety of the persons proposed for settlement therein, as they were permitted to reside in those areas despite clear data that showed them to be elephant habitats,” it stated.
The Court ruled that the State must take immediate steps to protect settlements near wildlife habitats until the long-term issue is resolved.
The court recommended that they form local task forces comprised of officials from several departments and the local Panchayat President, who will engage with the community to implement preventative measures to prevent animal attacks.
“The aforementioned steps would constitute the bare minimum of the State’s obligation to protect the lives of the people in the area while balancing their rights with the rights guaranteed to wild animals.”
