MANANTHAVADY: Wild animal attack has claimed one more life in Wayanad, taking the toll over the past four months to five. Paul Vellachalil, 50, a watcher with the Kuruva Island ecotourism centre, sustained serious injuries in a wild elephant attack at Chekady on Friday morning and died later in the day.
“Paul has been working with the Kuruva Island Vana Samrakshana Samithi for the past 12 years as a watcher. The ecotourism centre has been shut down for the past one week following the death of Ajeesh Joseph, who was trampled by a wild elephant near Mananthavady last Saturday,” said Abdul Samad K P, forest range officer.
Paul, a resident of Pakkam in the Kuruva ward of Pulpally panchayat, was assigned to alert visitors to the ecotourism centre and send them back. On Friday morning, wild elephants rushed towards Paul while on duty and stomped him. The elephants reportedly retreated to the forest after the attack.
Those present in the vicinity rushed to the spot and took Paul to the Wayanad Government Medical College Hospital, Mananthavady. He was shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital in an ambulance within two hours, but he succumbed to injuries in the afternoon. Paul’s ribs were broken in the attack and there was severe internal bleeding that led to his death.
According to doctors at Kozhikode MCH, Paul was brought to the hospital two hours after the accident, which was a massive time loss in such cases.
Though the forest minister directed the district administration to arrange an air ambulance to shift Paul to the Kozhikode MCH, authorities decided to use the road option as the air ambulance from Coimbatore took more time than expected.
Paul’s death triggered protests against the frequent wild animal attacks. The UDF, LDF and BJP have called a hartal in Wayanad on Saturday.
Meanwhile, local residents staged protest near Paul’s house at Pakkam. They plan to intensify the agitation.
Hartal in Wayanad
Paul’s death triggered protests against the frequent wild animal attacks in the district.
The UDF, LDF and BJP have called a hartal in Wayanad on Saturday. On Friday, local residents staged protest near Paul’s house at Pakkam. They plan to intensify the agitation.
'Paul was sole earning family member’
Paul is survived by ailing wife Sally, 16-year-old daughter Sona and younger sister, who suffers from mental health issues. “Paul was the sole earning member of the family. His unmarried younger sister is staying in an orphanage. His wife, a labourer under the rural employment scheme, is unable to work now because of health issues,” said Shyamala Revi, Kuruva ward member.
“Apart from a salary of around `15,000 from the ecotourism centre, the family has a small income from paddy cultivation, which sometimes face crop damage due to wild animal attacks,” she said.
Paul’s daughter Sona alleged her father was not given proper treatment at Mananthavady hospital. “He was shifted to Kozhikode only at 1pm, and as per my knowledge, no treatment was given to him at the hospital.The authorities should have shifted him immediately to Kozhikode if they know that there is no facility for treatment there” she said.
Meanwhile, Forest Minister A K Saseendran said the incident leading to Paul’s death was quite unexpected. “The officials were concentrating on the mission to track the elephant that killed a person at Chaligadha last Saturday. Around 200 officials are engaged in the mission when the unfortunate incident happened,” he said, adding that orders have been issued to tranquillise the elephant.
Paul is the third victim of wild elephant attacks in Wayanad district in the past 17 days. Last Saturday, Ajeesh Joseph, 47, a farmer, was killed in an elephant attack. The government has given Ajeesh’s family `10 lakh as an emergency relief fund, but their demand for the remaining `40 lakh as compensation is still pending.
On November 4, 2023, Cholamala Kunjavaran, 58, a resident of Elambilery, was killed in elephant attack near Meppady in Wayanad. On December 9, a 36-year-old dairy farmer, Prajeesh, died in a tiger attack in Vakeri. On January 31, this year, Lakshmanan, 65, of Pannikkal tribal Colony, was found dead near Tholpetty after being attacked by an elephant.