HC admits PIL on man-elephant conflict By A Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, Feb 22 The Gauhati High Court today admitted a public interest litigation (PIL) on protection and conservation of wild elephants arising out of frequent human-elephant conflicts and for protection of human life and property from elephant depredations in the State.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Jasti Chelameswar and Justice Hrishikesh Roy, while admitting the petition (WP-C PIL No 06 of 2008) issued notices to the respondents who include States Forest Commissioner and Secretary, States Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife)who is also the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State, Assam Union Environment and Forest Secretary, Director General of the Union Department of Environment and Forest,.
The court also fixed April 7 next as the next date for the case.
In his petition, noted elephant handler and owner Bijoyananda Chowdhury said interalia on behalf of the public charitable trust Human Elephant Learning Programme (HELP) that due to the apathy of the State Forest Department there had been a gradual aggravation of the natural habitat of the wild elephants. This has resulted in frequent human-elephant conflicts.
The herds of wild elephants are frequently intruding into the human habitations causing massive damages to property and incidents of killing human beings are also taking place frequently in the State.
The damages so caused frequently lead to fierce retaliation through poisoning the wild elephants by the affected people. Though such incidents are on the rise, the State authorities concerned are not taking any substantial step to stop the recurrence of such incidents, said Chowdhury, a founder executive member of the charitable trust.
Though the Government of India has issued circulars to the states and Union Territories suggesting, interalia, the minimum compensations to the victims of wild animal attacks and accordingly, a number of States and Uunion territories had implemented such guidelines. The Government of India had instructed all the State Governments and Union Territory authorities to raise the amount of compensation to the kin of those killed by wild animals to Rs 1 lakh per person way back in 1999, Chowdhury said.
However, Assam is far from implementing such guidelines and this particularly has impaired the wild elephant conservation in the State. This is despite the fact that Assam accounts for more than fifty per cent of the total elephant population of the country, Chowdhury said.
He said that while Assam Government is paying compensation at the rate of Rs 40,000 to the kin of each of those killed by wild elephants, Andhra Pradesh Government is paying Rs 1 lakh since 2003. The Government of this South Indian State has now proposed to raise the compensation amount to Rs 2.5 lakh per person.
The Maharastra Government is paying Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of those killed by wild animals, while the Governments of the Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Meghalaya are also paying compensation at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per person in such cases, Chowdhury claimed.
Chowdhury himself pleaded his case in the court today.
