Water sources in forests to be replenished, says Saseendran

Minister for Forests and Wildlife A.K. Saseendran said here on Monday that the government has initiated steps to ensure adequate drinking water for wild animals in the forest ranges.

A detailed project report focussing on recharging the water sources inside the forests is expected to be ready within a week. The Forest Department has submitted a report stating that there are around 240 marshy land and ponds in Wayanad. Similar inspections are progressing in other forest ranges. A pilot project to replenish the water sources was launched in Thiruvananthapuram, he said at the meetthepress programme organised by the Ernakulam Press Club here on Monday.

Mr. Saseendran said that the aim is to replenish the water sources in view of the scorching summer season. The chances of rain remains remote in the next two months. The lack of adequate food and water resources had resulted in the movement of wild animals into the human habitat, he said.

Limitations in law

The Minister said that certain bottlenecks in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 had hampered the effective intervention on the part of the State government in checking the humanwildlife conflict. The government has not been able to take immediate remedial action in such conflicts in view of the provisions in the Act. The delay had often worsened the situation during the incidents of wildlife attacks, he said.

Mr. Saseendran said that he will join the Forest Ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to submit a plea before the centre to resolve the shortcomings in the Act, which acted as a hindrance in taking effective action without delay at the scene of the conflict. He said that efforts are on to conduct a wildlife census in the State soon. It has to be done simultaneously in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to get an accurate head count, he said.