PALAKKAD: IAS officer T O Sooraj, who has been suspended for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, is just a tip of the iceberg and the big fries continue to be out of the net, said K B Ganesh Kumar MLA and president of the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation. He was speaking after inaugurating the 7th state conference of the Kerala Elephant Owners’ Federation at the Municipal Town hall here on Sunday.
Ganesh Kumar said that he would disclose the names of two corrupt persons in the next session of the Kerala Assembly and there was no doubt that Sooraj will also concur with it.
He likened Sooraj to a crane which eats the small worms that comes out when the hooves of a large bison loosens the mud while it walks in the forests.
Mullaperiyar
Ganesh Kumar said that Kerala lost the Mullaperiyar case as it harped on the study report of IIT, Roorkee, which had stated that the dam was not safe. He said that even at that time he had suggested that if the water level reached 142 feet, the nearby forests will be submerged in water and Kerala should have raised that point.
For the last 38 years, the water has risen only upto 136 feet. Therefore at that level, there have been trees, grasses and earthworms. When the water is raised by another six feet, these plants and living organisms will be submerged and killed. If these facts relating to the protection of bio-diversity were pointed out, the National Green Tribunal would not have given permission to Tamil Nadu to raise the height, he added.
Forest Department
Ganesh Kumar said that hundreds of wild elephants were dying in the forests due to lack of treatment. But the officials of the Forest Department, who were supposed to treat them, were not bothered as there was nobody to grease their palms.
But in the case of captive elephants, the officials were very eager to issue notices calling for the details of elephants that have died four to five years ago. As the post mortem report was with the Forest Department, the details were already present with it. But the notices were being issued only to harass the owners and seek bribes from them.
M B Rajesh who delivered the main speech said that the wild elephant menace has increased over the years. He said that the Forest Department has always complained that they were short of resources.
He said that now the third Rapid Response team has been constituted, adding that funds have been sanctioned from the local area development fund for the purchase of a vehicle and personnel have been deployed on contract basis.
In the morning, there was gajapooja and anayootu. The photo exhibition, which attracted a lot of people, was inaugurated by Shafi Parambil MLA. The exhibition of ‘anachamayams’ was inaugurated by V Chenthamarakshan MLA.
KOEF state general secretary P Shashikumar welcomed the gathering. K Achuthan, MLA and Palakkad municipal chairman P V Rajesh also spoke at the event. KOEF vice-president Mangalamkunnu Parameswaran spoke.