KALPETTA: The shortage of Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) has hindered the operations of the forest department in Wayanad, where wild animal attacks have made life difficult for residents in the past few years.
At present, only one RRT with a dozen members is operating at Muthanga to deal with the many incidents of wild animal attacks in the district.
Taking this serious stat into consideration, Forest Minister A K Saseendran on Sunday told media persons that two more RRT units will be deployed in Wayanad soon.
“It has been decided to strengthen the activities of the RRTs in the district by forming two more units. Also, 170 of the 500 beat forest officers who completed their training on Sunday will be deployed in Wayanad,” the minister said.
Wild animal attacks claimed eight lives in Wayanad in the past year. Of them, four deaths — one each month — were reported since last November. Six people were killed in elephant attacks and two in tiger attacks in the 12 months.
“The RRT units function in the wildlife rescue category under the forest department, which aims to deal with any kind of wild animal attacks. However, there are only 12 staff in Wayanad RRT to deal with such conflicts in Wayanad and Kozhikode region. During emergencies, we deploy more RRT members from other districts to carry out the operations,” said Sunil P, assistant wildlife warden, Muthanga range, who is in charge of the Wayanad RRT.
Last year, Saseendran promised to strengthen the RRT system in the district during an all-party meeting held to discuss the tiger attack in Kurukkanmoola.
He had said that the file for increasing the RRT staff strength is under consideration by the finance department and Wayanad will be given the topmost priority once the proposal gets approved.
He had also promised to include more permanent staff in the RRT team, including 175 officers in Wayanad. However, these promises have not been kept.
State of affairs
Wild animal attacks claimed eight lives in Wayanad in the past year
Six people were killed in elephant attacks and two in tiger attacks in the 12 months
At present, only one RRT with a dozen members is operating at Muthanga to deal with the many incidents of wild animal attacks in Wayanad