Bhubaneswar/Kolkata: The Save Elephant Foundation Trust (SEFT), on Monday, pressed for urgent mitigation strategies and enhanced relief for local farmers in both the states, in the wake of escalating human-elephant conflict along Odisha-West Bengal border.
A delegation, comprising its trustee, former PCCF-cum-former Lokayukta chairperson in-charge Debabrata Swain and SEFT chairman Rajanikanta Jena, met West Bengal forest minister Manoj Kumar Oraon during the day to discuss the matter, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The SEFT team requested the minister to convene a high-level joint coordination meeting between stakeholders from the two states for cross-border mitigation measures against the man-elephant conflict.
A consultative session was also proposed to bring together forest ministers and officials concerned of both states, be hosted at Baripada, Kharagpur or Jhargram, with the Trust offering to coordinate the initiative.
“Minister Oraon appreciated the approach and assured that a formal meeting would be organised in due course in consultation with the PCCF and HoFF of West Bengal,” Swain said.
A representation was also submitted to the minister highlighting the disparity in compensation packages for crop damage.
West Bengal currently offers Rs 6,000 per acre for elephant-induced crop depredation. In contrast, the Odisha government provides Rs 20,000 per acre for paddy and food crops and up to Rs 25,000 per acre for cash crops, SEFT pointed out.
It urged the West Bengal government to revise its compensation scheme to match Odisha’s rates and ease the financial distress of affected farmers.
This may help in bringing down incidents of attacks on elephant herds by villagers, using fireballs and burning spears.
A stakeholder meeting had been previously organised in 2023 in Kharagpur Forest Division of West Bengal, Trust officials said. It has also mobilised cross-border ‘Hati Sathi’ teams to facilitate safe elephant movement on both sides, they said.