Ahead of Assembly polls, people in Bengal’s Bankura worry about a jumbo problem

A day before the high voltage Assembly elections kick off in West Bengal, Rahul Bhattacharya, a resident of a remote village in the Barjora Assembly constituency of Bankura district is not much bothered about the dominant political issues in the state. Like him, a large section of people of Bankura is worried about elephant attacks.

For nearly two decades the people of Bankura, especially in the district’s northern part, have had to suffer from wild elephant attacks. This has not only resulted in a loss of lives but large scale damage to property and crops.

Locals said that every September the jumbos usually arrived from the Dalma hills in Jharkhand, returning by December end or early January. But now, the wild elephants arrive at any time of the year. The affected areas are Patrasayer, Beilatore, Barjora and Sonamukhi.

“My grandfather Bholanath Bhattacharya died in an elephant attack in 2016 following which the state government gave a compensation of Rs.2.5 lakh and I got a job as a special home guard. But it would have been much better if there were a permanent solution to the issue,” Rahul told DH.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, a resident of the Beilatore area said, “Almost every other day, the elephants enter our neighborhood and damage property. We are scared to step out of the house. We don’t want compensation. We want a permanent solution.” He also said political parties have made a lot of promises regarding the issue but few have materialized.

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“The then state government and the Centre decided to go ahead with the Mayurjharna elephant reserve project in 2002. But so far, there has been little progress. Whenever election approaches, people get showered with promises,” said Subhrangshu Mukhopadhyay, secretary of the Sangrami Ganamanch. The organization has been agitating for a permanent solution to the elephant issue since 2014.

The elephant reserve was supposed to come up in a 414 square kilometre area in the districts of Bankura, Purulia, West Medinipur and some areas bordering Jharkhand.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) district president in Bankura Shyamal Santra said, “Compensation amount has increased under the TMC Government and in future, we will work on providing a permanent solution to the issue.”

Forest Department sources said that at present compensation up to Rs 4 lakh is awarded in case of someone’s death in an elephant attack.

BJP MP from Bankura Subhas Sarkar said that if voted to power, the BJP Government will execute the project after consulting with experts.

Elections with four Assembly seats in Bankura will be held in the first phase on March 27 and in the remaining eight seats, polling will be held on April 1 in the second phase.