District administration offers comprehensive assistance to Aneesh’s family

The Kannur district administration has promised comprehensive assistance to the family of AS Aneesh, who died in a wild elephant attack at Aralam farm, and has decided to intensify measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

The decisions were taken at the meeting held at the collectorate on Tuesday. Sunny Joseph, MLA, District Collector Arun K. Vijayan, Aneesh’s family members and public representatives attended the meeting.

Rajesh Kumar, project officer of the Integrated Tribal Development Project, said immediate steps will be taken to pay compensation and a recommendation has been made to the government to cover the educational expenses of Aneesh’s children.

He added that a stronger enforcement team was recommended to address human-wildlife conflict and provide a permanent mechanism to clear the bush. Secretary and Director of Tribal Development department will visit Aralam farm soon.

A special officer has been appointed to oversee farm operations and will conduct weekly field-level inspections.

Aralam farm special officer S. Sujeesh said the elephant wall is expected to be completed by May 31, solar fences will be repaired and strengthened and an alert system will be installed to alert residents about elephant movements in the farm. The contractor was instructed to assign more workers to speed up construction. Additional patrol teams, including two from TRDM, will be deployed, the official added.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised about damaged solar fencing and inadequate farm maintenance.