Kerala Government to revive Elephant Corridor Project

Elephant corridors will be back in Kerala as the central government project is all set to be revived after the Kerala government issued orders to go ahead with the long-delayed land acquisition process for the Periya-Kottiyur elephant corridor. This move will help to alleviate the human-wildlife conflict in the region. Once the corridor is restored, elephants will be able to migrate freely from the North Wayanad forests to the Kottiyur Wildlife Sanctuary in Kannur district. In 2008, the Centre apportioned Rs 2 crore for restoring the corridor. While Kannur went ahead with the land acquisition utilizing the Rs 2.5 crore that was allotted, the project didn’t see the light of the day in Wayanad. Now, Wayanad has been asked to take the necessary steps to start the project. In fact, it was the North Wayanad forest officials who had urged the government to expedite the project in view of the increasing man-animal conflicts in the area. They have agreed to do the needful to carry forward the project. The first phase involves relocating  73 families from the corridor site at Periya which would release 36 hectares of land for elephant movement. There are plans to rehabilitate an additional  28 families in the nearby Chapparam and 47 families in CRP Kunnu to enhance connectivity in the corridor.