No policy on human-animal conflict, says Forest minister

KOHIMA — Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Village Guard, CL John, on Tuesday said that the state government has no policy on providing government jobs to those persons killed in human-animal conflict.

The minister was replying to a starred question raised by NPF legislator Achumbemo Kikon on the second day of the ongoing second session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

The Minister assured that the department is working to contain the human-animal conflict through a combination of short-term and long-term measures.

John also stated that as per a report, eight persons while 12 elephants were killed. However, it is not clear whether the number of lives lost in the report was for 2023 and for the whole state or Wokha district alone.

Earlier, Kikon said that the human-elephant conflict in Wokha district is a serious issue because it is impacting not only the economic crops but also the human population.

He said the population of elephants in Wokha district is 400 plus, out of which approximately 200 tuskers are under Bhandari sub-division.

The human-elephant conflict is an everyday occurrence though many such cases have gone unreported. Now that harvesting time is approaching, elephants are freely roaming around, the MLA claimed.

The NPF legislator further requested the state government to enhance the amount of ex-gratia, presently INR 5 lakh in case of death and INR 50,000 compensation for injured persons, in human-elephant conflict cases.

In response to Kikon’s request for enhancement of ex-gratia and compensation, the minister said the department will take up the matter with the Government of India.

Giving the status of post strength under Baghty and Bhandari areas, John informed that there is a range office and two forest guards under Baghty range, while there is one range officer and two forest guards under Merapani range, and one forest guard manning Changpang beat.

In addition, two personnel from Wildlife Division, Dimapur, are also posted at Wokha town and Merapani, specifically to deal with human-elephant conflict cases.

Admitting that there is a shortage of manpower in the department, the minister expressed hope that the manpower shortage will be addressed in the near future.

He further disclosed that special licenses for capturing elephants and specialised training for dealing with human-elephant conflict are in the process.

Also read: Wild tuskers destroy standing crops in Wokha