Assam among top states in human deaths in elephant attack

 383 humans killed in past five years

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Assam is among the states that make headlines for the wrong reason—elephants killing humans. In the past five financial years, the state witnessed the killing of 383 humans in elephant attacks.

Odisha tops the list among the states where 628 people had to lose their lives in the past five years from 2019-20 to 2023-24 in human-elephant conflicts (HEC). In 2023-24, elephants killed as many as 158 humans in Odhisa.

In lagging not far behind, Assam lost 383 human lives in elephant attacks from 2019-20 to 2023-24. According to government statistics, in the financial year 2019-20, Assam lost 75 human lives in elephant attacks: 91 in 2020-21, 63 in 2021-22, 80 in 2022-23, and 74 in 2023-24.

The human-elephant conflict is more severe in lower Assam than in upper Assam. A herd of elephants has been ravaging the Dhonguri area of lower Assam for the past few days, damaging several houses.

 According to the local people, elephant herds often frequent the village. Elephants frequent the village more when paddy starts ripening. A herd of elephants frequented the village on Tuesday night when it dismantled a few houses, besides trampling a baby.

The people of the village are not happy with the role of officials of the forest department in arresting the menace. The family that lost a baby last night is very poor. Meanwhile, human-elephant conflict is a serious cause of concern in the elephant-depredated areas in the state. Response from the department to the menace is far from becoming prompt, leading to the deaths of humans. The worst-affected district in human-elephant conflict in the state is Goalpara.

The central government released Rs 28.53 crore from 2019-20 to 2023-24 to Assam for the development of wildlife habitats. The central government also releases funds to the state governments for projects tiger and elephant.

Also Read: Assam: Elephant Attack Leaves One Dead And Injures Two Forest Rangers At Dhekiajuli (sentinelassam.com)

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