KOCHI: The people are unhappy with the forest department. Its decision to impound a KSRTC luxury bus for 24 days for causing the death of a deer in Wayanad and the revision of guidelines for sanctioning compensation to dependents of wild animal attack victims have not gone down well with the public.
On April 19, the forest department impounded a KSRTC Scania bus plying between Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru after it hit a deer at Muthanga in Wayanad. A case was registered under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act and the bus was kept in custody for 24 days, leading to huge loss to the KSRTC. The bus was released on May 13 after the KSRTC executed a bond worth Rs 13 lakh before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sultan Bathery.
“It (the April 19 incident) was an accident. The deer suddenly crossed the road (and got hit by the bus). However, the forest department registered a case for hunting, entirely ignoring the fact that it was an accident. If this is its approach towards a public sector firm you can imagine what will happen if the accused is a person,” said Paul Mathews, a farmer in Sultan Bathery. A forest official said that the case was registered as per the law and that the department cannot bypass rules.
Forest Minister A K Saseendran, too, said the department did not do anything to deliberately cause difficulty to the KSRTC.
Revision of compensation norms sparks discontent
“When the officials contacted me, I told them to take action according to the law and avoid a situation where the driver loses his job as it was an accident,” he said.
Meanwhile, an order issued by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) revising the guidelines for the distribution of compensation to families of wild animal attack victims has sparked protests among farmers. The KSDMA order says the state government will provide a compensation of `10 lakh to the families, of which `4 lakh will be contributed by the KSDMA and `6 lakh by the forest department.
However, the farmers claimed the order was an attempt to divert Centre’s funds.
“The office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) says the Centre will provide a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for death or permanent incapacitation of humans in conflict with wildlife.
The compensation granted by the state government is reimbursed by the MoEF&CC. The decision to split it and entrust the KSDMA to pay 40% of the sum is an attempt to divert the central fund,” alleged Alex Ozhukayil, chairman of Kerala Independent Farmers’ Association.
Forest officials said the ex gratia is provided by the Centre under centrally-sponsored schemes like Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, Project Tiger and Project Elephant. “The claim that Centre provides Rs 10 lakh as compensation for deaths in wild animal attacks is a misinterpretation.
The Centre provides 60% of the fund for centrally-sponsored schemes, which include habitat management and other projects. We got only Rs 70 lakh last year from the Union government for paying compensation. In 2023-24 we distributed Rs 23 crore as compensation but the central allocation was just Rs 30 lakh,” said a senior forest official.