As the man-elephant conflict spiked in Surguja and Korba districts of the state recently, Chhattisgarh government on Thursday decided to convene a meeting of all legislators of the affected areas to work out a solution to the problem.
Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar made an announcement in this regard in the assembly after members raised the issue.
Expressing concern over the crisis, some members attributed the problem to unplanned exploitation of coal in the affected region.
Congress MLA Ambika Singhdeo drawing attention of the House towards the conflict, said the situation in the affected areas was grave.
Participating in the debate, JCC (J) legislator and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi termed it a serious problem.
In the past decade, incidents of man-elephant conflicts saw 120% rise and people of Surguja and Korba are facing the fury of wild elephants, he said.
Jogi also blamed the previous BJP government for not implementing Lemru Corridor and elephant parks in the regions to tackle the menace. It could have benefitted both humans and elephants, he added.
Recalling steps taken during his own tenure, Jogi claimed he stopped coal mining activities in Hasdeo Aranya region during 2002 to avert the conflict.
Another JCC (J) legislator Dharamjeet Singh too attributed the crisis to coal mining activities in the regions inhabited by elephants.
He said mining activities were irritating the animals and making them violent.
He claimed elephants have amazing ability to detect vibration caused by a blast even at a distance of 100 kilometers and as soon as they feel the vibration, the start running in opposite direction.
Dharamjeet expressed surprise by the government’s decision to allot 30 coal mines to Adani group.
He demanded that since Congress President Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the region had opposed the allotment, the government led by his party should now cancel the deal. Speaker Charandas Mahant intervening into the matter, instructed for sending it to Questions References Committee of the state assembly.