325 Humans And 70 Elephants Killed In Conflicts In Chhattisgarh In Past Five Years
Stories of conflict between man and animal is not new and India, despite a long tradition of living in harmony with nature, has seen a rise in such conflicts over the past few decades as more and more forest lands have been evaded by the growing needs and desires of humans.
In a worrying report, it has now emerged that the death toll due to human-elephant conflict is rapidly increasing in the central-eastern state of Chhattisgarh.
As per the government's records, at least 325 people and 70 elephants have lost their lives in the last five years. This yields a worrisome an average of 65 humans and 14 elephants per annum. The loss of lives, property and crops led to an extra burden of Rs 75 crore on the government.
It has also been stated in the report that elephants from neighbouring states started migrating to Chhattisgarh in 1988, gradually increasing in numbers. Currently, elephants are found in Surguja, Bilaspur and Raipur forest circles of the state.
WIKI
The conflicts are taking place largely due to the degrading habitats of the pachyderms, the report added.
As of now, there are more than 254 elephants in the state, which move around in 19 herds. Of these, 121 elephants are in Bilaspur Circle, 110 elephants in Surguja and 23 in Raipur Circle.
According to government sources, efforts to control elephants in the state started in 2005. For this, a resolution was passed in the State Legislative Assembly to start 'Project Elephant' and sent to the Central Government, requesting for financial support to build huge protected areas for the conservation of wild elephants, where these animals will get an abundant amount of water, food and other facilities in Raigarh, Jashpur and Korba.
Wildlife experts believe that protecting large tracts of forest will help conserve the jumbos and bring down incidents of human-pachyderm conflict.
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