Rahul Gandhi reviews Wayanad human-animal conflict, stresses on swift compensation

Wayanad (Kerala), Feb 18 (PTI) A day after violent protests broke out in Wayanad over the deaths of three persons in wild animal attacks, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took stock of the situation with district officials and urged them to provide the assured compensation to the victims' kin without delay.

Rahul Gandhi represents Wayanad in the Lok Sabha.

He arrived in the constituency after abruptly halting his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Varanasi following intense protests by local residents here seeking a permanent solution to the human-animal conflict in the region.

Addressing reporters after the assessment meeting with district officials in Kalpetta, the parliamentarian said he did not intend to digress from the main issue of human-animal conflict by getting into politics.

Gandhi, however, raised the issue of lack of facilities at Wayanad Medical College hospital and said it was a critical matter.

Earlier in the day, he met the grieving families of Aji, Paul and Prajeesh who were killed in three different incidents of wild animal attacks in a span of two months.

Talking to the media, Paul's daughter Sona said Gandhi had assured them that he would take care of her education and look into the requirements needed at Wayanad Medical College.

Alna, daughter of Aji, also expressed similar views on the urgency of improving the medical treatment facilities in the mountainous district.

Meanwhile, Majeesh, the brother of Prajeesh who was killed in a tiger attack, urged Gandhi to improve road connectivity in the region so that people can reach hospitals quicker in case of emergency.

Divulging the details of the meeting, Gandhi said he has asked the district administration to disburse the various compensation amounts announced for the deaths or the injured immediately.

"Medical college is a critical issue. I mentioned to the administration today that I don't understand why it is taking so long to develop and build a (well-equipped) medical college here. It is not such a complicated thing to do. It is a tragedy that even after people are losing their lives or are getting injured, they are not having a proper medical college here," he said.

The Wayanad MP added that he has written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and would request him again to take steps to improve facilities at the medical college.

"It's important that the government bear the cost of treatment of the people who have been injured in the latest spate of attacks," he suggested.

The Congress leader stressed on the importance of disbursing the compensations in a timely manner.

"When a family loses a member, especially a poor family, it's not good enough to give them the compensation after a long time. The compensation needs to come immediately as they need the money immediately," Gandhi said.

The senior politician also said he would like to apprise the CM directly of what the people of his constituency were going through.

Gandhi spent over 20 minutes at the house of Aji (42), who was trampled to death by a radio-collared elephant in the Mananthavady area of Wayanad district -- an incident that triggered massive protests last week.

Later, he visited the residence of Paul, an eco-tourism guide of the forest department who was killed by a wild tusker near Kuruva island on Friday and spent some time there.

The MP also visited the house of Prajeesh who was killed in a tiger attack recently.

Attacks on livestock and humans are frequently being reported from Wayanad of late.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Union Minister of State V Muraleedharan called Gandhi a tourist in his own constituency.

"He (Gandhi) goes there once every five or six months. But he should also take care of the issues of the constituency that has been facing human-animal conflict for more than a week. Rahul Gandhi did not find time to visit till now and the reason for the death of a forest watchman was that he did not get the required medical assistance," Muraleedharan told the media.

Muraleedharan said Rahul Gandhi should have taken care of his constituency and ensured that basic medical facilities were there, especially since it is a place where frequent human-animal conflicts are being reported.

The Forest officials are yet to capture the radio-collared elephant which trampled Aji to death and as of now, that elephant is reportedly somewhere deep inside Karnataka's forests.

Meanwhile, another incident of tiger attack on cattle was also reported from Wayanad.

A hartal called by various political parties in protest against the government for doing nothing about the increasing wild animal attacks in the region turned violent in Pulpally town on Saturday with the agitators damaging a forest department vehicle. PTI