Since 2014 till date around 3742 cases of man-animal conflicts have been registered in the state and compensations amounting to Rs 2,44,05,622 have been paid to victims of elephant menace in Lundra, Forest Minister Mohammed Akbar told the state assembly on Friday.
Lundra MLA Dr Preetam Ram had sought details of loss of lives, properties and crops and how much compensation was given to the victims, and the steps taken for permanent solution to control elephant menace.
The minister in his reply stated that at present around 225 elephants in 17 herds are moving in forest circles of Surguja and Bilaspur, in Mahasamund and Baloda Bazar districts of Raipur circle and in Khairagarh of Durg circle. All these elephants had arrived from Odisha through Jashpur border.
Sarguja-Jashpur elephant reserve was established in 2011 covering an area of 1143.34 square kilometers. It falls under Tomar Pingla Sanctuary, Semarsoth Sanctuary and Badalkhol Sanctuary.
Meanwhile, Central government has constituted Central Project Elephant Monitoring Committee for states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal having state level representatives and national level elephant experts.
Replying further, the minister said sanction was given for radio-collaring of 12 elephants out of which 5 of Sarguja have been collared through Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Development of sources of water and fodder for elephants in these areas has been undertaken. 14 vehicles have been provided for keeping a tab on elephants with the help of villagers. Elephant Repellant Electric Fence is also being installed in rural areas. Five ‘Kumki’ elephants from Karnataka have been brought at Relief and Rehabilitation Centre Pingla (Ramkola) for monitoring and controlling single male-elephants.
The compensation amount from June 1, 2019 has been raised to Rs 6 lakh for loss of life, Rs 2 lakh for disability, Rs 59,100 for injury and Rs 30,000 for loss of animal stock. In case of crop loss or damage to houses, compensation is paid as per government’s norms, he added.