Why 454 People And 2,261 Animals Died In Odisha Over The Last 6 Years

The coal belts in Northern India have turned many human and animal lives into black ashes. Odisha has seen terrible human-animal conflict in the last six years, resulting in the deaths of 454 people and 2,261 animals, including 388 elephants, according to a report by Forest Department, as stated by the Quint. Poaching, poisoning, accidents and deliberate electrocution are the major reasons for the alarmingly high elephant deaths, the report said. However, a copy of this particular report is not available yet to any wildlife conservators or the media concerned about this issue.

While 362 persons were killed by elephants in the past six years, 92 were killed by other animals, the report said, adding that 157 persons were injured by elephants and 736 by other animals.Besides elephants, the human-animal conflict also involved saltwater crocodiles, sloth bears, wild boars and leopards. This apart, 164 cattle have been killed by elephants, which also damaged 4,405 houses and crops over 69,071 acres. While 28 jumbos were poached by hunters and wildlife smugglers, nine died due to poisoning and 60 in road and train accidents. Electrocution claimed 50 lives during the period, the report said.

“Elephants are entering human habitats in search of food due to forest fires, urbanisation, industrialisation, increasing population and land encroachment. This issue remains a matter of concern and a multi-pronged approach is being adopted to address the situation,” Orissa’s Forest and Environment Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh told IANS.

Prevention and Precaution

The minister however asserted that the state government is taking a number of steps to prevent elephant deaths. Besides, anti-depredation squads and elephant trackers have been engaged to monitor the movement of elephants and prevent them from entering human habitats. A site-specific wildlife conservation plan has been made mandatory for any clearance of mining or industrial projects. The plan takes care of protection and conservation requirements of wildlife and improvement of their habitat, the minister shares, adding the state has also identified 14 elephant corridors.

“New forests with plant species that elephants relish are being created. Besides, fresh water bodies are being created and the existing ones are being renovated. Stone walls, trenches and solar-powered wire fencing have been put up in sensitive areas to prevent elephants from entering human habitats,” Arukh added.

Outrage by Wildlife activists

Wildlife experts however expressed the view that the government has failed to formulate any concrete strategy to save the elephants which barge into human habitats, risking their lives as well as wreaking havoc in the area. They said rampant mining and non-adherence to wildlife plans could be the major reason behind such elephant deaths.

Biswajit Mohanty, an environmentalist and wildlife activist sheds further light on the issue by speaking with Homegrown, “The Government has shown a lot of apathy. There is lack of concern and commitment towards wildlife preservation, poaching of 20 to 25 elephants takes place every month on an average and often elephants die of falling into open wells or on railway lines. The government has been given adequate research and designs to make animal friendly infrastructure, however no initiative is seen from the government to resolve this complex human-animal conflict issue. The land belongs to both now and it is unfair to leave both to die in negligence like this, the death tolls are bloodcurdling.”

Biplap Mahabatra, a wildlife activist, rescuer and chairman of People for Animals in Odisha said, “due to lack of awareness and no modifications in the electrocution  mechanisms a lot of species like deer and wild boar and even elephants especially are dying severe deaths. The approach of the government is lackadaisical, despite having big budgets for schemes to better the situation. Even after human casualties, the government is slow in giving compensation to the families of the deceased. Also there is a lack of elephant experts in the region,”

He shares how the inhabitants of lands are only interested in clearing away animals, as a lot of land is under mining and industrialisation and concern for animals is negligible in these areas.

“We are trying to generate awareness through paintings, reaching out to the panchayat, through rallies to bring about a lasting change against a temporary solution,” he told Homegrown.

[caption id=”attachment_63721” align=”aligncenter” width=”800”] Image Courtesy: E-Odisha.org[/caption]

Tracing the History

In the 1980s, huge swathes of forested land in Odisha and Jharkhand were cleared to make way for the coal industry. As a result, its resident elephants began migrating to the forests of neighbouring Chhattisgarh. Here too, the districts of Raigarh, Korba, Jashpur and Surguja saw their lands being requisitioned for coal mining, pushing the pachyderms out from the safety of their dense forests out onto the periphery, towards villages. Faced with a loss of habitat and food, the elephants were attracted by the villagers’ crops, and man-animal conflicts in these surrounding villages have been steadily rising since.

For further reading, we recommend looking at ‘Elephants In The Room’. It is a photo series by Subrata Biswas that seeks to explore the nature of the conflict between man and elephants that has risen due to the unchecked coal mining in the coal belt. His black-and-white images depict the brutality of the wasted landscape and the struggles of the tribals as the government continues to ignore their plight.

Feature Image Courtesy: Subrata Biswas