68 people killed this year in human-wildlife conflicts: Minister Ganesh Singhkhuntia

BHUBANESWAR: As many as 68 people have been killed in human-wildlife conflicts this year, Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia told Parliament on Tuesday.

Replying to a question by BJD MP Arun Kumar Sahoo, the minister said 1,087 houses have been damaged this year and crop damage has been reported in an area of ​​over 2,315 acres.

The minister said 14 people died in wild animal attacks in Dhenkanal forest, while eight such deaths have been reported so far in Keonjhar forest.

Similarly, six people were killed in human-wildlife conflict in Bonai and Rourkela forest divisions and five in Angul forest division. Athagarh and Baripada divisions reported four human deaths each.

Singhkhuntia said the state government has so far received 9,168 complaints seeking compensation for losses suffered by elephants and other wild animals. The government has approved a compensation of Rs 51.92 crore, of which Rs 4.19 crore has been distributed to the affected families and Rs 99.58 lakh is to be distributed.

In order to minimise human-wildlife conflict, he said, the state government has initiated steps to implement an artificial intelligence (AI)-based e-surveillance project in the state. The project will be first piloted in Bharatpur section of Chandaka forest division, Hindol range of Dhenkanal division and Bantala of Angul division.

The advanced surveillance mechanism will help forest departments send advance warnings to human settlements near forests about the movement of wild animals, thereby preventing conflicts.