At a time when major political parties in Uttarakhand had incorporated the menace of wild animals in their poll manifestos, the killing of two villagers on the outskirts of Rajaji National Park on Saturday has again brought the issue of man-animal conflict in focus. Two villagers — Prithvi (50) and Sukkad (52) — were trampled to death by an elephant in Banjarawala village on the outskirts of Rajaji National Park in Hardwar district last night. They were sleeping in their hut near their fields when the elephant attacked them. The bodies were found in the fields early this morning. The bodies have been sent for postmortem. The families have been paid a compensation of Rs 5,000 each, said Girija Shankar Pandey, Director of the Rajaji National Park. In the past three months, a total of 18 people have been killed by man-eating leopards and elephants. Wild animals including leopards, elephants and bears have killed more than 150 persons in the past six years in the state and twice the number have been injured in such attacks, besides damage to crops and property. Meanwhile, in the run-up to the polls, all political parties in the state are promising to do something to reduce the man-animal conflict. The ruling Congress would incorporate the menace of monkeys and wild boars, whereas the opposition BJP would focus on the issue of environmental degradation and steps to be taken to safeguard it.” The issue of man-animal conflict is part of the overall issue of environment and we would be promising to do better than Congress,” Dr Devender Bhasin, BJP spokesperson said. The UKD has also included the issue in their poll manifesto. “If returned to power we would be giving a compensation of not less than Rs 5 lakh to each of the deceased in any attack by a wild animal,” Shivanand Chamoli, vice-president of UKD said. Uttarakhand unit of NCP has also promised to give adequate compensation to those affected by wild animals. “While, we are concerned about degradation of the natural habitat of wild animals, on the other hand we would like to safeguard the interests of the common man against attacks by animals,” said Suryakant Dhasmana, president of NCP state unit.
