Number Of Farmers On Decline In Angul District

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

The number of farmers are on the decline in Angul district giving an indication that people have lost their interest in agricultural activities.

District Agriculture Office sources said 46304 farmers have registered their names for selling paddy to the government this year. The number of peasants who have registered their names for this purpose last year was 48968. If one is to go by the statistics, then in 2021-22 the number was 39195, in 2022-23 the number rose to 44,101. The District Agriculture Office sources futher said that there was a tremendous increase in the number of farmers in the district during the past three years, but this year there was less number of registration of peasants with the office.

This was not immediately know why the number of farmers in the district has come down drastically despite a favourable monsoon this year which has ensured a bumper crop harvest. However, when contacted, a number of farmers in Sankhapur, Bantala and other area in Angul district, said elephant menace in the region has dissuaded them from agriculture activity. The jumbos have been destroying their crop over the years, and therefore, they have decided not to undertake cultivation, the farmers added.

Reports from Mahidharpur under Banarpal block in Angul district said that a horde of elephant headed by deadly tuskers have been rampaging paddy fields in the past few months leaving the agrarian community scratching their heads. The farmers have alleged that the forest officials are doing nothing to drive away the marauding jumbos to forest locations.

Local environmentalists although admitted that the elephant issue is somewhat responsible for decline in the number of farmers, rapid industrialization has also to be blamed for such a scenario. They reasoned thast contamination of air,water and soil in Angul district has adversely affected agriculture production in most parts. The rivers like Brahmani has been polluted due to discharge of effluents from smoke belching thermal power plants, aluminium industries and other ancillary units located in the district.

     

Elephant-Man Tussle Toll Rises To 162 In Angul-Dhenkanal Districts In 4 Yrs

By  SANTOSH MOHANTY

The elephant-man conflict in Angul and Dhenkanal districts is showing no signs of respite even as the forest wings of respective districts have claimed that they have been doing their best to scale down the death toll to minimal.

The Union Government has recently admitted that the elephant-man tussle has escalated in the past four years in Angul and Dhenkanal districts of Odisha. In response to a question posed by Dhenkanal MP Rudra Narayan Pany in Parliament, Union Forest and Environment minister Kirti Vardhan Singh, said as many as 162 persons have died following jumbo attack in the four years.

The Union minister said that 31 elephants have died in the same period in these two districts of Odisha and added that the government is doing every thing possible to put an end to elephant-man conflict.

Community based organizations working in Angul and Dhenkanal districts said to minimize the conflict between the largest mammals and humanbeings,  Pany should not limit his responsibilities as a people's representative only to put questions on elephant-man conflict in Parliament, rather it is obligatory for him to visit those regions in these districts to talk to people to discuss about strategies the government must take for driving out the jumbos to forest and save the people and their property.

They said the government, particularly the forest department of Odisha, must come forward with strategies to scale down such occurances at a time when the number of jumbos is increasing in these two districts. The elephant census has confirmed that the jumbo population in Angul and Dhenkanal districts are on the rise.

As the harvesting time in Odisha is drawing near, the agrarian community of the state, particularly in Angul and Dhenkanal districts, is apprehensive that pachyderms might go on rampage destroying crops. They are helpless, peasants in Mahidharpur, Banarpal, Bantala, Sabalbhanga, Sankhapur, Nuakheta, Pokatunga and Madhupur said, and added that the local forest staff burst crackers to drive the elephant away. But, this is not a permanent solution to the issue, the farmers said.

The farmers did not appreciate the so-called intellectuals who conduct Gaja Utsav and seminars on elephant-man conflict in five star hotels rather than discussing the issue with villagers to find out solutions who are the real victims. The forest officials in Angul and Dhenkanal forest divisions have experimented with honey bees to drive out the jumbos from human habitation, but this effort has not become frutful. They have been experimenting with solar fencing, setting up sirens in villages close to forest and high mast lights along elephant corridors to reduce elephant-man conflict, but to no avail, the villagers said.

The affected villagers in Bantala, Baluakata, Pateli, Sankhapur and Pokatunga said they have relied upon Angul MLA Pratap Chandra Pradhan to come to their rescue and find out a lasting solution to the issue, but he has ditched them. The harvesting time is on, the villagers said, but their MLA is busy attending meetings in air conditioned halls to speak hours on jumbo issue. He only talks, but fails to take measures to reduce the impact of elephant-man conflict, the villagers alleged.

Satkosia Villagers Divided Over Project Tiger Displacement Issue

By SANTOSH MOHANTY

The Project Tiger in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary in Angul district has run into rough weather. The project will displace people living in different villages in the core areas of the wildlife sanctuary. Reports said the displacement issue has divided the villagers into two groups, one supporting the project and the other opposing the move.

The Wildlife division of Satkosia has decided to take measures for conservation of Royal Bengal Tigers (RBTs) in the sanctuary  from 2025. This will be the second attempt by Angul wildlife division for conservation of RBTs. The first attempt by the wildlife wing was taken in 2018, but it was a failure as the relocated tigress and tiger could not get acclimatized to Satkosia environs.  

While the people in favour of the tiger project have urged Angul district administration to provide them compensation for their displacement immedieately or else they will resort to agitation in front of Pampasar Forest Check Gate on December 10, the Satkosia Praja Suraksha Samiti has given ultimatum to the district administration for staging a road blockade (rasta rook) at the same place on Decemeber 15 to give vent to their anger that the forest department has unilaterally taken the decision for conservation of royal bengl tigers in Satkosia region without taking them into confidence.

The Praja Suraksha Samiti members said they have become apprehensive about their safety as more than 10 RBTs will roam in their localities after Project Tiger becomes a reality.They said according to media reports the forest department will bring three RBTs to the Satkosia towards the middle of 2025.

Meanwhile, people of Tikarpara and Purunakote villages, who are supporting the tiger conservation in the region, have submitted a memorandum to Angul District Collector to provide them due compensation for their displacement at the earliest as they wish to leave Satkosia region for better settlements elsewhere. The villagers argue that they are bereft of basic facilities in Satkosia region since long and they do not want to stay for a while in the forest location.

The Satkosia Praja Suraksha Samiti, has however, taken a different line to the proposed displacement from the region saying the local forest wing and the Satkosia wildlife division authorities have virtually forced them to vacate their villages as soon as possible by taking whatever compensation is due for them. They have argued that they donot oppose the conservation of tigers in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary, but they must be provided with due compensation. The government must follow the guidelines for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, the members of the outfit said and added that it is because they are leaving their home and hearth for good. The government and the forest department must provide them a package that will give them a decent life elsewhere.

The Satkosia Praja Suraksha Samiti members urged the government to ensure that grampanchayat level Gram Sabhas must be held with due participation of displaced villagers and their grievances must be looked into before finalization of Project Tiger.

In 2018, the forest department had taken the initiative to start conservation of RBTs in Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary with Sundari and Mahaveer, one female and the other male, for breeding. But, after a few months, the female RBT Sundari created havoc in Satkosia region by attacking cows, goats and even human beings. Such was the situation that villagers in Satkosia region remained confined to their houses for days for fear of being attacked by Sundari. The forest officials were forced to put Sundari into an enclosure following opposition from villagers. Sundari was kept in the enclosure for a few months before being again relocated to Bandhavgarh sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh from where it was brought.       

The male RBT Mahaveer also could not stay in Satkosia sanctuary and met untimely death which is still shrouded in mystery. The wildlilfe officials did not disclose about the reason of the death of Mahaveer.

Nature lovers, grass root organizations working for conservation of wildlife sepecies in Satkosia Sanctuary, said Odisha government and the wildlife wing must consider the demands of villagers who are the inhabitants of the region for years. It is their right to get due compensation, they said and added that the resettlement and rehabilitation guidelines should be followed strictly.