By IANS,
Raipur : As many as 116 people were killed by elephants in Chhattisgarh in the past five years and government paid Rs.1.40 crore (Rs.14 million) compensation to their families, state’s forest minister Vikram Usendi told the state assembly Tuesday.
Replying to Congress member Premsai Singh Tekam, the minister admitted that wild jumbo menace was on the rise in the state’s vast northern forest belt.
Usendi said the government has paid Rs.1.40 crore compensation to families that lost their members in elephant attacks.
He also informed the house that there were 43,306 cases of crops being damaged and 4,837 cases of destruction of houses by elephant herds in the past five years.
The minister said Rs.5.79 crore was paid to farmers whose crops were damaged and Rs.1.08 crore to those who lost their houses.
“The government is highly concerned about rising man-elephant conflict problem in the forest areas, mainly in the northern belt comprising Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Korea and Jashpur districts,” Usendi told the house.
He said the government has decided to put up solar-powered electric-fences in 34 villages in the first phase to keep jumbos away. The fence gives a mild shock that scares the elephants away.