Man-elephant conflict declines in eviction zones, Assam govt plans ‘Gaja Mitra’ project

Guwahati, Oct 24: Though man-elephant conflict has assumed an alarming proportion in Assam, one interesting fact has come to light. The conflict has reduced in the areas where large-scale evictions have taken place to remove encroachers from forest land.

Moreover, the Assam Government is planning to launch “Gaja Mitra” project to reduce the conflict.

Sources in the Forest department told The Assam Tribune that there would be several components of the Gaja Mitra project. If elephants destroy paddy fields, the farmers will get Rs 7500 as compensation for each bigha of paddy field destroyed.

That will compensate the loss suffered by the farmers. The amount of ex gratia for the next of kin of each of the persons killed in elephant attacks will be increased to Rs 5 lakh. During the tenure of the present Government, compensation of more than Rs 20 crore has already been paid to the victims of man-elephant conflict.

In the last few years, large-scale eviction drives have been conducted and forest officials said that the man-elephant conflict eased out considerably in those areas. If elephants have food and water in the jungles, they will never venture out.

“Fortunately in Assam, grass grows very fast and in the evicted areas, the elephants have started to get food and water,” sources added.

The conflict eased out considerably in Laokhowa, Burachapori, Lakhipur in Goalpara, Chariuduar, etc., as massive eviction drives were launched by the Government and grass started growing in the evicted areas. But the conflict has started in new areas like Nalbari and Baksa as the forest cover along the border with Bhutan in those areas is dwindling due to encroachment.

If encroachment of forests cannot be stopped, the conflict will always remain, Forest department officials said.

It is not that forests are encroached only by landless people. There are persons who even encroached up to 20 to 30 bighas of land.

During eviction drives, it was found that there were large cultivations inside reserve forest areas, while some encroachers even had JCBs and other vehicles. In such a scenario, man-animal conflict is inevitable.

Forest officials, however, said the eviction drives would continue and hoped that people would cooperate in the larger interest of the State.