The Forest department had spent ₹21.38 lakh for translocating wild tusker Arikompan from Chinnakkanal to the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Thekkady on April 30, according to a Right to Information Act (RTI) document.
A sum of ₹1,83,664 was spent for cutting eucalyptus trees for making a kraal and ₹1,81,828 for constructing a kraal at Kodanad to accommodate Arikompan after its capture. A sum of ₹1,00,000 was handed over to the Chinnakkanal rapid response team as advance for the mission. In addition, ₹15,85,555 was spent on the entire operation, says the document.
The RTI reply was secured on an application filed by Ernakulam resident Raju Vazhakkala.
Mr. Vazhakkala said the RTI reply showed that the Forest department had spent the money without clarity.
A senior forest official said the expenses of ₹21 lakh was incurred for capturing and translocating the tusker from Chinnakkanal to the PTR.
“Road repairs were done at the PTR before translocating the tusker inside the forest. Initially, a road was constructed at Parambikulam under the Vazhachal division for the translocation of Arikompan. The payment for both the works was done in each division and the amount had not been included in the RTI reply,” he said.
The wild tusker which used to raids houses and shops for rice at Santhanpara and Chinnakkanal panchayats in Idukki was captured on April 29 and translocated to the Periyar Tiger Reserve on April 30. Later, the Tamil Nadu Forest department captured the tusker and released it to the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.
