MANKULAM: Passing through Mankulam, a sleepy village in Idukki, one is likely to spot a group of residents staging a relay hunger strike in front of the office of the divisional forest officer (DFO) at Viripara demanding, among other things, a concrete solution to the increasing wild elephant conflicts plaguing the region. A little further, one might come across a huge crowd of tourists and more residents camping on the banks of the Anakkulam River, waiting for wild elephants to come to the river from the Malayattoor forest range that lies opposite, and quench their thirst.
The two scenes aptly capture the curious case of Mankulam, which is home to conflicts as well as coexistence between humans and wild elephants. It is perhaps the lone place in the state where this happens.
Though settlements started coming up in Mankulam back in the 1960s, it shot to fame as a tourist hub only recently, after videos of elephant herds coming to the Anakkulam River waterhole went viral. For some Mankulam residents like jeep driver Murukan N, the fame has brought with it a chance to earn more. Murukan told TNIE that he earns anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000 through jeep safari from Mankulam to Perumbankuthu and Anakkulam during weekends.
“Anakkulam and jumbo herds have become a major tourist attraction. Tourists camp for hours to catch a glimpse of elephants coming to the river to drink water,” he said. the rush has also benefited hoteliers, resort owners and vendors at Mankulam.
The presence of ammonium sulfate and high salt content in the water – since the village is located just 63 ft above sea level – is claimed to be the reason behind the jumbos preferring the river water. There is no scientific proof of this though.
Unni Sevalkudi, a tribal forest watcher managing the solar fence built on the river's banks, says he has been keeping guard there for a decade but has never seen the wild elephants attack visitors even if the latter are a little too close for comfort. However, in the past few years, Mankulam panchayat has reported a rise in wild animal menace, jumbos included, and farmers have been finding it difficult to cultivate crops, their main livelihood source.
“The number of families in our parish has dropped from 160 earlier to 130 now as the others have migrated primarily due to lack of infrastructure like roads, and wild animal conflicts,” said Fr George Pallivathukkal, the vicar of Anakkulam St Joseph Church. He said not even a single crop can be cultivated in the area as wild elephants and boars will destroy it in seconds.
“The last time elephants strayed into human establishments in Anakkulam was in June 2023. The herd entered a government school premises while the opening ceremony was going on, to devour the plantains cultivated by students. In other wards of the panchayat, elephant menace is a routine affair,” Fr George said.
Though the wild elephant menace had been plaguing them for a few years, it was not until 2024 that residents began staging mass protests or hunger strikes. One of the triggers was a conflict between residents, panchayat authorities, and forest department officials on January 4 over ownership of the land near Perumbankuthu waterfall where the panchayat had built a pavilion. Some protesters were allegedly manhandled.
Forest officials claimed the land was under the Malayattoor forest division and hence, the panchayat had no right to build a pavilion and set up a ticket counter near the waterfall. However, block panchayat member Praveen Jose said they built the pavilion on the land for which the Oommen Chandy government had issued the title deed when Kuttampuzha village was in Ernakulam district.
The allegation that the Mankulam DFO used offensive words against the Anakkulam church vicar, for scaring away wild elephants after parishioners burst firecrackers during the church's annual festival, escalated matters further. Following intelligence reports that the conflict would get more complex, Mankulam DFO B Subhash was transferred on February 5.
Karshaka Congress mandalam president Sunny Joseph told TNIE that taking action against the DFO was just one of the demands raised by the residents who are on a warpath against the alleged anti-development activities being undertaken by the forest department in the panchayat.
“The residents began the indefinite relay hunger strike on March 4 demanding opening of the old Aluva-Munnar road to traffic, sticking to the original alignment of the proposed hill highway so that it passes through Mankulam, distribution of title deeds to residents, demarcating revenue and forest land boundaries in the panchayat and finding a solution to the rising wild animal issue in Mankulam,” Sunny said, adding the protests will continue until the demands are met.
