PULPALLY: Congress leader and Wayanad MP`on Sunday visited the houses of wild elephant and tiger attack victims Ajeesh Joseph, Paul V P and Prajeesh. He first visited, at 7.30am, the house of Ajeesh who was killed in a wild elephant attack on February 10 at Padamala.
He then left for Pakkam, Pulpally, to the house of Paul V P who died on Friday in a wild elephant attack near the Kuruva Islands Eco Tourism Centre. From there, Rahul travelled to Moodakolly, to the house of Prajeesh who was killed in a tiger attack last December.
He later held a review meeting with district officials including the District Collector, district police chief and the forest department officials at Kalpetta. There, Rahul also interacted with the family of Lakshmanan, an elderly man from the scheduled tribe community who died in a wild elephant attack on January 31. He was working as an estate watcher at Tholpetty.
Talking to reporters, Rahul emphasised on the issue of lack of facilities at the Wayanad Government Medical College in Mananthavady, which caused a delay in providing treatment to Paul. The Wayanad MP took the state government to task for not developing the Wayanad Government Medical College Hospital. He also criticised the delay in distributing compensation to the families of wild animal attack victims.
“The lack of a proper government medical college hospital in Wayanad is a critical issue. I don’t understand why it’s taking such a long time to develop and build a medical college here when it’s not a complicated matter. It’s a tragedy that even after the people are losing their lives and getting injured, they are not having a proper medical college here. I have written to the CM and I would request him again to expedite this matter,” Rahul said.
He said the district administration has been asked to pay the compensation quickly and effectively. “The compensation should come immediately... victims’ families should not wait,” he said.
He also suggested the setting up of an early warning system, saying that one rapid response team (RRT) team was not enough in Wayanad.
“We have asked the officials to increase the number of teams and provide these teams with enough equipment and facilities as required. There is a question of inter-state cooperation to tackle the human-wildlife conflicts. We assure that we will also provide support to improve the coordination, but it’s important for Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu state governments to cooperate with each other,” Rahul pointed out.
The Congress leader stuck to the issue of the wild animal attacks in Wayanad and refused to discuss matters related to politics and the upcoming general elections. He reached Wayanad after taking a break from his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra which had reached Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday.
Rahul told the victims’ families that steps will be taken to ensure the higher education of the children Paul and Ajeesh, and to provide help for the renovation of Paul’s house.
Saturday protests: Cases registered against 100
The Pulpally police have registered four cases in connection with various incidents of violence during the protests staged in Pulpally on Saturday following the death of Paul, a temporary watcher with the Kuruva Island Eco-tourism Centre.
Cases have been registered against around 100 people for damaging the jeep of the forest department, attacking the police, blocking the road and for blocking the shifting of the body. A case has also been registered for pelting stones at the police in front of Paul’s house in Pakkam. The police are examining CCTV footage and other visuals of the protest as part of the investigation.