Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that the escalating man-animal conflicts in the State cannot be addressed without amending the Wildlife Protection Act, and if anyone has to be blamed for the situation, it should be the Congress and the BJP.
Opening the LDF Kannur Lok Sabha constituency convention and election committee office at the collectorate ground here on Thursday, Mr. Vijayan said the State alone could not be held responsible for the situation.
“The State has no right to amend a Central law. The current government at the Centre has to take steps to amend the law. However, the BJP followed what the Congress did, and the present Union Minister said the Act could not be amended. Hence, both the Congress and the BJP are responsible for the growing man-animal conflicts,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan said when the animal population was going up in the State, a decisive step should have been taken. But in Kerala, both the Congress and the BJP, instead of taking proactive steps, are provoking people to politically attack the LDF.
He further said that despite Congress leader Rahul Gandhi representing Wayanad and 17 other MP’s from UDF representing the State, they remained silent on the issue and did not demand an amendment to the law in Parliament. That was a huge mistake on their part.
The Chief Minister said the Chief Wildlife Warden could issue orders to kill animals by following certain protocols. It is not possible to catch an animal and tranquillise or transfer it to another place. He recalled the legal issues faced by the Chief Wildlife Warden in the Bombay High Court for ordering to shoot a man-eater tiger, which had killed several people.
The State government has submitted a proposal worth ₹660-crore before the Centre for taking up preventive measures to bring down man-animal conflicts. However, the Centre has not responded to it favourably so far.
