MALAPPURAM: Nilambur MLA P V Anvar on Monday said the LDF lost up to 20 per cent of votes in the last parliamentary election across 60 constituencies in hilly districts due to the state government’s failure to address the human-wildlife conflict.
Interestingly, the opinion of the ruling party MLA is in tune with that of the opposition parties, which had earlier staged protests citing the government’s failure in resolving the issue. Anvar also criticised Forest Minister A K Saseendran and officials for failing to tackle the issue.
Anvar launched the scathing attack at an event organised by the forest department in Nilambur, which was inaugurated by Saseendran.
The minister was present on the dais when Anvar unleashed a tirade against him as well as his department.
“As the state government failed to address the human-wildlife conflict, the LDF lost around 20 per cent of votes across 60 constituencies in the hilly districts during the last parliamentary election. If an elephant kills someone inside the forest, we can justify it by saying the incident occurred in its habitat. But how can we justify it when elephants enter residential areas and kill people? Just one and a half months ago, a child was attacked by a wild boar in Nilambur,” Anvar said.
He also criticised some of the projects inaugurated by the minister in Nilambur on the same day.
“Projects worth Rs 15.68 crore were inaugurated by the minister today (Monday). Of the total funds, Rs 6.5 crore was used for good purposes, but the remaining amount was wasted on unnecessary buildings. Fencing to block animals from entering residential areas should have been prioritised. Constructing unnecessary buildings is not the LDF government’s way. The LDF should intervene,” he said, adding that if such unnecessary projects had been recommended to him by officials, he would have dismissed them.
Anvar further said that forest officials should be made to follow the directives of people’s representatives.
“Every area in the state is facing crises because elected representatives are being kept away from the democratic process and solving people’s issues. Even a panchayat member is the leader of their area. This fact needs to be made clear to the officials,” Anvar said. He also advised Saseendran to work as a minister for protecting humans, rather than one who is keen on protecting wildlife.
He further criticised forest department officials, stating that some have become crueller than animals.
Following the function, Saseendran expressed dissatisfaction with Anvar’s conduct, and urged him to reflect on his decision to publicly criticise the government and the minister.
“In my political career, I have learnt to respond to such criticism calmly. However, Anvar should assess whether he made his criticism appropriately,” Saseendran said.