Home relief: Arikomban fans repay a tribal couple's backing of wild jumbo

IT WAS during the state forest department's mammoth mission of capturing and translocating wild elephant Arikomban that a tribal couple from Vilakku, Chinnakkanal, grabbed media headlines.

- NEJMA SULAIMAN @Idukki

Despite being attacked by Arikomban in 2010 and seriously injuring his right shoulder in the process, 68-year-old Thomas and his wife Vijayamma questioned the department's move, demanding that the tusker be left to its natural habitat in Chinnakkanal.

As it transpired, Arikomban was moved to a better habitat and the dust kicked up the controversy settled.

In the meantime, the couple also saw their circumstances improve as members of the Kochi-based Arikomban Fans Association sponsored a container home near their makeshift shed in Vilakku six months ago.

Thomas says that ever since they were resettled in Chinnakkanal after the government allotted them an acre of land in 2003, the elephant menace had been rampant in the area.