The Odisha government has formed a task force headed by its chief wildlife warden to prepare a 3-year master plan for reduction of man-animal conflict, which has seen elephants trample four persons to death in different parts of the state in the last three days.
Principal secretary of forest and environment department Mona Sharma said the task force headed by chief wildlife warden HS Upadhyaya and comprising the heads of the four power distribution companies, NHAI officials and senior officials of the forest department would submit its report in the next six weeks.
“The master plan would suggest different activities that the department needs to do in the next 3 years for reducing the man-animal conflict. The idea is to have a long-term plan instead of a knee-jerk reaction every time such a conflict occurs and prioritise the resources adequately. Funds under different schemes would be spent under the master plan,” Sharma said on Tuesday.
The announcement came as rampaging elephants from neighbouring Jharkhand killed four persons in Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh and Angul districts taking the human casualty in man-elephant conflicts to 52 since April this year.
In Mayurbhanj district, a 65-year-old woman was trampled to death while plucking flowers near her home on Tuesday morning. Subhadra Rana of Palashamundali village in Mayurbhanj district was chased by a tusker that had entered her village on Monday night. Two others in the village suffered injuries in the melee. On Sunday, 70-year-old Srikant Behera of Sarumula village in the same district, too, was trampled to death while returning home after watching a football match.
Similarly, a farmer in Angul district was trampled to death by a tusker when he was in his paddy field. Farmer Bhaskar Bhukta was trying to drive an elephant away from his paddy field in Kamalpur village under Athamallik forest range Tuesday morning when the elephant charged at him, giving him little time to escape.
On Sunday, 60-year-old Krishna Malar of Banki village under Bisra forest range of Sundargarh district came face to face with an elephant which trampled him to death. Villagers alleged that a herd of eight to 10 elephants has unleashed a reign of terror in the area.
In 2019-20, Odisha recorded 115 human casualties and 132 injuries due to man-elephant conflict in a year, probably the highest ever in India. Retaliation by people with electric fences, live wire poaching, poaching for ivory etc have taken a heavy toll of elephant lives too.
Wildlife activist Biswajit Mohanty said to mitigate human-elephant conflict, the government has taken up several steps but sadly they have not been effective as more and more people are losing their lives, limbs, crops and properties.
“The first step should be to reduce resentment among losers, mostly farmers. In case of injuries caused to humans by elephants or other wild animals, the compassionate guideline provides for a measly amount even when people have become permanently handicapped. To keep elephants off farmlands and human habitations, several steps can be taken but they have to be community based practices. Safe methods of driving away elephants must be practiced and abiding by the Supreme Court order should be a must. Fire crackers or projectiles should not be allowed. Crops that are unpalatable to elephants must be farmed in highly vulnerable areas,” said Mohanty.
He added that to prevent most of the human casualties, elephant herds and lone males are required to be tracked to anticipate conflicts and warn locals.
