Durga Pujas are posing an elephantine problem in West Bengal’s Bankura district. A herd of about 40-44 elephants are staying at Barjora forest of Bankura district and the festival is posing a challenge for the forest officials, who fear that human-elephant conflicts may increase during the festival months.
On Saturday, the forest officials at Bankura, along with the local MLAs, the members of the zilla parishad held a meeting to take steps to ensure that the human casualties in the elephant attacks did not occur.
“About 40 elephants are in the Barjora forest. The herd is a little aggressive. We urge people not to venture into the forests particularly in the night during the festive season,” S. Kulandaivel, Chief Conservator of Forest, West Bengal told The Hindu.
The forest official said that the next two months were crucial for the human elephant conflict in the region. In the past couple of weeks at least seven persons had been killed by the same herd of elephant attacks in the adjoining Jhargram. district.
“We urge people not to venture into the forests particularly in the night during the festive season”S. KulandaivelChief Conservator of Forest, West Bengal
The forests of south Bengal became fragmented nature and the landscape emerged as a hotspot of human elephant conflict. Mr. Kulaindaeivel said that in the year 2021-22, 32 persons were killed in elephant attacks in south Bengal alone. This year so far 13 persons have been killed in elephant attacks, the forest official said, adding that the department was trying its best so that figures of casualties do not rise. South Bengal hosts about 180 elephants, which are stationed in districts of Bankura, Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur and Purulia.
Experts like Raman Sukumar, honorary professor and national science chair, the Centre for Ecological Sciences, the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru have been pointing out that south Bengal cannot sustain the elephants and emphasising the human elephant conflict was the most pressing issue in the region. According to Professor Sukumar a drought played a role in the initial large-scale dispersal of elephants from Jharkhand to southern West Bengal during 1986-87.
Mr. Kulandaivel said that during the festival months all the leaves of the forest officials had been cancelled and they had been asked to stay alert. The forest official said that the meeting on Saturday was to involve all the stakeholders to minimise casualties due to the elephant attacks. The Durga Puja in West Bengal would be a grand affair this year as it would come after two years of COVID-19 pandemic and the UNESCO recognition of “Durga Puja in Kolkata” as an intangible cultural heritage. The State government has also decided to pay ₹60,000 to each of the Durga Puja community clubs this year.
