Jharkhand to take steps to check elephant menace

Jharkhand government today said measures would be taken to check elephants from marauding agriculture fields after members in the state assembly expressed concern over the plight of farmers.
Replying to a short notice question by JMM MLA Yogendra Prasad on the matter, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy (officiating for the forest department) said the Wildlife Board would look into the concerns and take appropriate measures into the concerns.
In a written reply, the government said the compensation against destruction of agri-produce by elephants was Rs 10,000 per hectare with a maximum of Rs 25,000 as outlined in the file dated August 25, 2014 of the department, which did not mention any plan to increase the amount.

Prasad had asked whether the government had any proposal to increase the compensation amount.
Stating that a herd of 20 to 25 elephants is moving across the state, senior JMM MLA and former deputy chief minister Stephen Marandi suggested setting up a 'high power committee' to find ways in limiting the pachyderms to a single corridor.
Jai Bharat Samanta Party MLA Gita Koda described the elephant menace as an inter-state problem.