THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Forest Minister AK Saseendran will soon meet Union Minister for Environment and Forest Bhupendra Yadav to take up issues related to man-animal conflict in the state including matters related to wild boar attacks.
The meeting will be held in New Delhi at 4pm on Sunday. Saseendran’s visit is primarily aimed at bringing to the Union minister’s attention the issue of wild boars creating havoc for both farmers and the public in the state.
Though the state government has been taking various measures to address the wild boar issue since 2011, these have not proved very effective. The state government recently permitted shooting down of dangerous wild boars by licensed individuals. Since then, measures are also being taken with the help of forest officials to address the problems created by wild boars, especially for farmers.
Though the state government had, many a time, requested the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to declare wild boars as vermin, no steps were taken in this regard. It’s in this backdrop that the ministerial-level meeting is being held.
Currently, killing of wild boars is punishable as the species has been included under Schedule 3 of the Wildlife Protection Act. But once the species is declared vermin, both the public and farmers can kill boars that destroy crops and attack people.
The state will also seek the Centre’s support to implement various measures to address man-animal conflict. The state forest department has come up with modern measures to address the issue and would need financial assistance from the Centre.
The forest department, along with the revenue department, is also taking steps to mark the boundaries of forest land in the state and digitise all data. This would help in sorting out boundary-related issues. The state will ask the Centre’s help to implement the Supreme Court’s directives in this regard.