Despite clear directives from the Kerala High Court and the state’s Power Department, unauthorised electric fences continue to claim the lives of humans and wild animals across the state.
Published Jun 16, 2025 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 18, 2025 | 11:00 AM
Electric fence. (iStock)
Synopsis: Electric fences, designed to deliver a sharp but non-lethal shock, are widely used in Kerala to deter wild animals from straying into human settlements. However, the unregulated and unsafe installation of these fences, often without the mandatory approval of the Electrical Inspectorate, has led to tragic consequences, claiming both human and animal lives.
A crude power trap meant for wild boars claimed the life of a 15-year-old boy in Vazhikkadavu near Nilambur in the Malappuram district of Kerala on 7 June — a tragedy that has jolted the Nilambur Assembly bye-election campaign.
As political parties scramble to turn the incident into electoral capital, the rampant and illegal use of electrified fences, despite court directives, government orders, and Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) warnings, continues unchecked, claiming human and animal lives alike.
The incident has once again exposed a dangerous, long-ignored menace lurking in Kerala’s forest fringes — the unregulated electric fences.
The trap that claimed the life of Ananthu.
Electric fences, designed to deliver a sharp but non-lethal shock, are widely used to deter wild animals from straying into human settlements. Powered by batteries, alternating current (AC) mains or increasingly by solar energy, these barriers work by completing an electric circuit when an animal comes into contact with the conductive wires.
While the Kerala Forest Department deploy solar-powered fences to keep elephants and other wildlife at bay from forest fringes, private landowners often rely on AC or battery-operated versions to safeguard their crops and properties.
However, the unregulated and unsafe installation of these fences, often without the mandatory approval of the Electrical Inspectorate, has led to tragic consequences, claiming both human and animal lives.
Recognising the growing risks, authorities have reiterated that all electric fences must be installed, operated, and maintained with strict safety protocols to prevent harm to people, wildlife, and the environment.
It has been mandated that these fences comply with national and international safety standards — IS 302-2-76/1999 and IEC 60335-2-76/2002 — which govern the safe design and operation of electric fence energisers.
The emphasis is clear: While electric fences remain an effective deterrent against wildlife incursions, their careless use is a hazard that can no longer be ignored.
Image of an elephant that died due to electrocution.
Despite clear directives from the Kerala High Court and the state’s Power Department, unauthorised electric fences continue to claim the lives of wild animals across the state.
A recent report by the CAG laid bare serious lapses in the regulation of electric and solar fences, especially by the Forest Department.
Back in December 2010, the state government issued a circular mandating that no electric fence could be operated without approval from the Electrical Inspectorate.
To safeguard human and animal lives, the Inspectorate framed strict guidelines in November 2011, making it compulsory for all installations to meet prescribed safety standards.
However, the CAG’s Compliance Audit Report for the year ending March 2022 (submitted in the Kerala Assembly in 2024) paints a grim picture. Between 2017 and 2022, a total of 223 wild animals, including 17 elephants, were electrocuted due to unauthorised or improperly installed fences.
Alarmingly, nearly half of all unnatural elephant deaths during this period were caused by electrocution. The audit found that while solar fences had been installed across all forest divisions, none of them had secured the mandatory approval from the Electrical Inspectorate.
In one tragic incident, even a fence installed by the Forest Department inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary turned fatal for an elephant. Worse still, the Forest Department admitted that it has no data on fences erected by private landowners.
Experts warn that unregulated, unsafe fences not only kill wildlife but also disrupt migratory corridors, exacerbating human-animal conflicts in sensitive forest fringes.
Accidents due to electric fences.
In Kerala’s forest-bordering districts, especially Palakkad, Wayanad and Idukki, unregulated electric fences powered by high-voltage domestic lines have become a dangerous fixture.
Originally set up by desperate farmers to protect their crops from wild boar raids, these illegal fences have spiralled into a major safety threat, claiming the lives of both wildlife and people.
The unchecked spread of such fences stems from the state’s lack of accessible, legal options for crop protection.
Frustrated farmers, unable to manage frequent raids by wild boars, often resort to high-risk methods like electric fencing and crude country bombs.
In the fiscal year 2021–22, Kerala reported seven human deaths due to electrocution from electric fences. In the following years, the death toll rose sharply — to 14 in 2022–23, 16 in 2023–24 and 24 in 2024-25.
Alarmingly, there were also instances in which poachers too exploit these fences or lay traps to hunt wild boars for meat, which fetches hefty sums in local markets and toddy shops.
The 2020 death of a pregnant elephant in Palakkad, caused by an explosive-laden fruit, starkly exposed the unintended victims of these brutal practices, underscoring an urgent regulatory void.
Ananthu.
At the same time, the death of 15-year-old boy Ananthu, a Class 10 student of Christ King Higher Secondary School, on 7 June after coming in contact with an illegal electric trap meant for wild boars has rocked Nilambur, triggering protests and sharp political exchanges in the middle of a high-stakes Assembly bye-election.
He died on the evening of 7 June while fishing near a canal at Vazhikkadavu. Two of his friends, Shanu Vijay and Yadu Krishnan, sustained injuries.
The trap, connected to an illegally drawn power line, claimed his life instantly, and the incident turned political.
UDF activists blamed the government for negligence and staged a roadblock near Nilambur Taluk Hospital, delaying traffic and vehicles, including that of CPI(M) leader A Vijayaraghavan. Police forcibly removed the protesters.
UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath accused the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) of complicity, calling it a “government-sponsored murder.”
LDF’s M Swaraj hit back, accusing the Opposition of exploiting a tragedy for electoral gain.
Kerala Forest Minister A. Saseendran courted controversy by suggesting a political conspiracy, a remark he later clarified. The police arrested Vineesh, who allegedly set the trap, and his accomplice Kunhimohammed.
With tensions high, Ananthu’s death is now poised to become a decisive factor in the Nilambur bye-election narrative. However, the hard reality is that the tragedy at Vazhikkadavu is more than an isolated incident.
As politicians trade barbs and scramble for electoral mileage, the unchecked menace of illegal electric fences — condemned by courts, flagged by audits, and overlooked by successive governments — continues to claim lives, human and animal alike.
Unless the state acts decisively to regulate, dismantle, and replace these crude death traps with safe, sustainable alternatives, more tragedies like Ananthu’s will be inevitable.
It will only grow bloodier.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
