Forest department invites public ire for KSRTC bus seizure

KOCHI: The people are unhappy with the forest department. Its decision to impound a KSRTC luxury bus for 24 days for causing the death of a deer in Wayanad and the revision of guidelines for sanctioning compensation to dependents of wild animal attack victims have not gone down well with the public.

On April 19, the forest department impounded a KSRTC Scania bus plying between Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru after it hit a deer at Muthanga in Wayanad. A case was registered under Section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act and the bus was kept in custody for 24 days, leading to huge loss to the KSRTC. The bus was released on May 13 after the KSRTC executed a bond worth Rs 13 lakh before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Sultan Bathery.