Sharp decline in human casualties due to elephant attacks: Bengal Minister

Kolkata, Nov 28 (IANS) West Bengal has witnessed a sharp decline in the number of human casualties because of elephant attacks during the current calendar year of 2024, West Bengal minister of state in charge of forest department (independent charge) Birbaha Hansda informed the state assembly on Thursday.

“In 2023, there were a total of 103 deaths because of elephant attacks. Till November this year the same figure has been recorded at 53,” Hansda informed the house on the fourth day of the ongoing winter session of the state assembly on Thursday.

She informed the house that during the last year, the elephant population in West Bengal has also improved significantly.

“At the end of last year, the figure was around 650. Till November this year, the figure stands at 800. It is because of the relentless efforts of the officials and staff of the state forest department that the number of human casualties because of elephant attacks has declined despite a significant rise in the number of elephants in the state,” Hansda said.

The two districts where human casualties were the highest during the current calendar year are Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri. At Alipurduar, a total of 18 persons have been killed till November this year, as against the figure of 24 last year.

At Jalpaiguri, the figure on this count till November 2024 is 13 as compared to 28 in 2023.

The minister said that the state forest department had taken several initiatives to bring down the chances of human-elephant conflict by embarking on a massive awareness campaign drive.

“We are advising the villagers to avoid taking any direct action in case of elephant herds entering the villages and instead inform the state forest department office. This awareness campaign has started yielding positive results,” the minister said

--IANS

src/dan