Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): To find the solution to the wild elephant-human conflict in the state, a five-member committee of Centre is on a visit to Madhya Pradesh.
The panel is visiting the regions affected by wild elephant menace to look into the causes and suggest remedies. The committee will hand over its report to the Centre in the coming three to four days.
The authorities concerned at the Centre will study the report and thereafter forward its recommendations to the state for implementation.
The committee members visited Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve on Friday and later reached Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. On Saturday and Sunday, committee members are likely to visit Shahdol, Anuppur and Dindori.
The Central committee members include National Tiger Conservation Authority’s Hemant Singh, Project Elephant’s Dharmendra Gupta, Wildlife Institute of India, Bilal Habib and others.
“The committee is here to look into the issue related to elephants. We will look into the causes and suggest possible solutions. The committee is likely to hand over the report to the centre in three to four days,” said one of the members of the visiting central committee.
When contacted, deputy director of Sanjay Dubri Tiger Reserve, Hari Om told Free Press that the committee members inquired about the issues related to the wild elephant’s and how the problem is being handled.
“We informed that there is only one herd of elephants and we alert the villagers in advance about the elephant movement,” he said. He insisted that a big mass awareness program is needed to tackle the issue.
In 2021, elephants had killed 3 people. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve officials said the Central committee team arrived at Bandhavgarh in the evening and the members visited some places.
There are around 55 wild elephants in Bandhavgarh. One person was killed by an elephant in Bandhavgarh in the past. Besides, elephants often damage the crops and houses in villages. In Anuppur, one elephant had killed a villager, prompting massive agitation from villagers. Later the elephant was caught and translocated to Bandhavgarh.
