Thiruvananthapuram: As local body and Assembly polls draw closer, Kerala’s CPI(M)-led government is pushing to fulfill the poll promises it made in 2021 to the state’s hill regions, from tackling human-animal conflict to land law reforms. The government has faced sustained protests in hill districts including Idukki, Wayanad and Malappuram, where wild elephants have been increasingly straying out of forests, destroying farmland and claiming lives.
Addressing the human-wildlife conflict issue is critical for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as it emerged as a decisive factor in the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) loss to Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath in the recently held Nilambur bypoll in Malappuram.
The state forest department is finalising a draft policy to address the human-animal conflict, with landscape-specific measures to tackle region-wise problems. The process began after March 2024, when the government declared such conflicts a state-specific disaster, allowing the state to mobilise the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).
On Wednesday, the forest department and the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) held a one-day workshop on the draft policy’s recommendations. Various stakeholders, including activists, representatives, experts and locals, attended the workshop, Muhammed Anvar, Assistant Conservator of Forests, told ThePrint.
“We have taken the inputs, and there will be many more deliberations in the coming months before the policy gets approved by the state,” Anvar said.
The state government is set to launch a 45-day campaign covering nearly 400 panchayats across the state to address the public’s immediate concerns over the human-wildlife conflict issue. The campaign, to be inaugurated by Vijayan Sunday, will be rolled out in three phases of 15 days each. It will initially be held at the panchayat level, where citizens can directly raise their complaints related to wildlife issues.
If an issue can’t be addressed at the local body level, the official will forward it to district-level committees, which include collectors, ministers and officials from various departments, who will address the complaints in the second phase.
In the third phase, a state-level committee directly overseen by the chief minister will address unresolved complaints.
The government has identified 12 landscape zones with conflicts—Wayanad, Nilambur, Kannur-Aralam, Munnar and Thrissur-Peechi, Palakkad, Mannakadu, Vazhachal-Chalakudy, Munnar-Mankulam, Periyar-Ranni, Konni-Thenmala and Agasthyamala-
Besides this, the department has also identified 30 panchayats as facing severe conflict.
“We will be constantly monitoring and revising the list. There might be new landscapes or the issue might also reduce in some,” Anvar said.
The draft aims to create 327 Panchayat Rapid Teams (PRTs) with 3,255 trained volunteers for local-level response and integrating tribal knowledge into conflict mitigation. Control rooms will also be set up at the state and divisional levels. The official said that the state is also considering approaching the central government for the addition of human-wildlife conflict mitigation-related regulations under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Earlier, the central government had rejected the state government’s two proposals to amend the Act, which sought to declare wild boar as vermin and move the bonnet macaque from Schedule I to Schedule II. The move would allow higher state-level discretion to deal with the animal, which currently enjoys a higher level of protection under Schedule 1.
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Political relevance
Situated at the southwestern tip of India, Kerala is flanked by the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, with most districts having either coastal or hilly terrains or both.
Of the 14 districts, Idukki and Wayanad are entirely hilly, while Kannur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta also have significant hill regions. However, residents of the region face recurring issues due to climate-related disasters, human-animal conflicts, and over land titles.
With the state set to face crucial local body polls before December and Assembly polls early next year, addressing their issues is critical for the Vijayan-led LDF government.
Kerala Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan undertook a march, ‘Malayora Samara Yatra’ (high-range agitation march) to address these issues in January this year.
Deaths from the human-wildlife conflict have been a concern in recent years. According to the government, 67 people lost their lives in the state in 2024-25. The number was 94 in 2023-24, 98 the previous year and 114 in 2021-22. So far, 17 deaths have been reported in 2025-26.
Many of these deaths were caused by elephant attacks. Of the total 394 deaths since 2011, 285 people were killed by wild elephants and the rest by other animals including wild boar and tigers. Since 2020, the government has spent Rs 2,644.17 lakh towards compensation for victims.
Land reforms
Apart from the campaign to address the human-animal conflict, the chief minister also announced a state cabinet decision to approve the rules of the Kerala Government Land Assignment (Amendment) Act, 2023, on Wednesday.
“Finding a solution to the long-standing land issues faced by the population in the hilly region has been one of the main goals of the state government. Since the LDF government came to power in 2016, continuous interventions have been made for this purpose,” the chief minister said Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram.
He added that this step fulfills one of the LDF’s key promises in its 2021 manifesto.
The Assembly passed the amendment in September 2023, regularising the alternative use of patta land for livelihood-based purposes, which was prohibited under the original law of 1960.
Patta refers to government-issued land deeds, which restricted use to farming or housing. But over time, people began using the land for commercial purposes, like shops. The amendment now formally allows such alternative use of land.
“Both initiatives seem like they’re going to be beneficial for the hilly regions’ farmers. But I can’t know whether it’s going to help the government, as the population has been struggling with multiple issues for a long time. We have to see whether it’s actually going to make some positive changes,” state-based political analyst C.R. Neelakandan told ThePrint.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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