Idukki: The RTI activist who sought details from the forest department on the ‘operation Arikomban’ has come out against the department for not giving detailed expenses incurred on each head for the preparatory works and the mission. The forest department launched the operation to translocate the jumbo from Chinnakanal to Periyar Tiger Reserve on April 29.
Kochi-based RTI activist Raju Vazhakkala said that though the forest department has cited the total expense for the operation as Rs 21,38,367, the officials at the Munnar Division have not listed the particulars in which as many as Rs 15,85,555 was spent.
“They have said that Rs 1,83,664 has been spent for felling eucalyptus trees to make the Kraal at Kodanad elephant training centre and Rs 1,81,828 was spent for making it. RTI reply which I got also says that Rs 1 lakh was paid in advance for the rapid response team (RRT) members from Wayanad and Idukki who had camped at Chinnakanal for tracking the movement of the rogue tusker before its capture,” Raju Vazhakkala said.
(Though the kraal was set up in Kodanad, High Court issued an order against keeping the wild elephant in the Kraal after capture)
He said that only if the department further clarifies how Rs 15,85,55 was spent on ‘different heads’, the public could assess the expense.
“I had also asked about the number of people killed by the jumbo and related details but that query has been forwarded to the state information officer and Devikulam range office by the Munnar division. After getting a reply to that query, I am planning to file another RTI for expenses in each category,” added the RTI activist.
He also revealed that he filed such an application regarding the operation because the money spent by the forest department for various purposes usually goes unnoticed in the public domain and the department needs to keep a detailed account of such an operation which got tremendous public attention.
