KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday observed that it will look into the circumstances under which the settlers came to be rehabilitated in areas which have been recognised as part of elephant corridors.
“We have to balance the rival interests of the people of the locality as well as the animal concerned while looking for a lasting solution to the problem itself. In that process, we would also need to look into the circumstances under which the settlers came to be rehabilitated in areas that we are told were already recognised as elephant corridors at the time of their rehabilitation,” said a division bench headed by Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar.
If the court found that the tribals were resettled in the area, notwithstanding the report that the areas were part of the elephant corridors, it would term it an act of gross negligence by policymakers.
The committee of experts would suggest what steps would bring about a balance between the conflicting interests of humans and animals in given situations, as also what steps could be put in place to avoid such situations in the future.