Mananthavady: The Government Engineering College Wayanad has closed for five days due to the ongoing tiger scare in the region. However, online classes will be conducted during this period.

The decision followed mounting student protests that demanded an extension of the closure until the threat was neutralised and the tiger was immediately captured. The Students' Federation of India (SFI) observed a protest day on Monday, criticising the college administration for failing to pressure the forest department into capturing the tiger.

Speaking to Onmanorama, College Principal-in-Charge Dr M Rajesh confirmed that online classes would be held from Tuesday to Saturday. He admitted that while reports of the tiger’s presence were known earlier, the administration had not considered it a serious threat since the animal had not attacked anyone.

Dr Rajesh also addressed concerns about student safety, noting that many students live in hostels and as paying guests outside the campus. "For them, it is challenging to step out at night for food. We had earlier advised students to avoid venturing out alone after dark and to move in groups," he said. He expressed hope that the issue would be resolved soon, adding that the forest department was actively working to capture the animal.

Authorities found pug marks in multiple locations. CCTV footage of the tiger crossing a road into a valley was also circulated on social media and news platforms, further escalating public and student fears. In response, local labourers and representatives of the Thavinjal village panchayat staged protests, including a blockade of the Wayanad-Kannur state highway, demanding urgent action.

Meanwhile, the forest department has set up cage traps in areas where the tiger was last spotted. However, environmentalists in Wayanad have raised concerns over the growing fear and panic.

"Though a healthy tiger will not attack human beings in normal cases, the uproar over capturing the tiger at Thalappuzha, which never had created any disturbance to the public domain, is not at all a healthy sign for the society", said N Badusha, president of Wayanad Prakrithi Samraskhana Samithy.

Badusha told Onmanorama that it is up to the forest department and the conservationists to educate the public regarding the necessity of the co-existence of man and animal in such ecologically sensitive areas like Wayanad, he added.