UP makes man-animal conflict a 'State Declared Disaster'

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced that man-animal conflicts will now be considered a 'State Declared Disaster', thereby bringing all such cases under the ambit of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

As per the decision, in death cases related to man-animal conflicts, a relief of Rs 5 lakh shall be given to the family of the deceased and disbursement for an injury shall be accorded as per SDRF guidelines.

The Forest Department will recoup a sum of Rs 1 lakh per death case from its own budget to the revenue department.

For the first time, lion and wild boar have been included to the list of wild animals, in addition to previously added animals like tiger, leopard, Indian wolf, Hyena, crocodile, elephant and rhinoceros.

Hereafter, it shall be possible to disburse the relief amount by Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) method within 24 hours of the incident, after the mandatory post-mortem report and completion of paperwork by the District Magistrate.

Earlier, it used to take one to six months and more for the forest department to disburse the relief amount.

The state government's decision will help mitigate acrimony amidst local villagers, forest department and local administration in the conflict zones, especially the districts in the Terai Arc Landscape.