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Elephant menace triggers row

BHUBANESWAR: The wild elephants getting alienated from their habitats is surely an unusual issue for the otherwise politically charged legislators of Orissa.

But when the issue of man-elephant conflict came up for discussion on the second day of the budget session of the Orissa Assembly on Thursday, it evoked spontaneous response from the members.

About two dozens of legislators stood up one after the other and participated in the deliberations on the problem that was growing by the say in different interiors of the State.

The members, cutting across the party lines, took part in the discussion and expressed their concern over the growing conflict.

What was special about the discussion was that many legislators who usually stay silent during many debates in the House too were eloquent in their description of the conflict that was taking a heavy toll in the rural and forest fringe areas.

These members primarily hailed from the districts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Dhenkanal, Jharsuguda, Khurda, Ganjam, Kalahandi and Sonepur.

Although the House usually does not hold discussions against anyone in his or her absence, one of the legislators strongly supported the cause of the mute animals.

While discussing against the elephants in their absence, the legislators should not overlook the fact that the animals were straying into human habitats primarily because of the destruction of the existing forests, said senior Congress member Niranjan Patnaik.

Primarily two major demands were made by the participating legislators during the discussion that was taken as a special mention Chilika MLA B.B. Harichandan.

They said the government should take necessary time bound measure to protect the elephants by checking damage to their habitats.

The people bearing the brunt of frequent elephant attacks should be adequately compensated for the loss of life and property, they demanded.

At the end of the discussion, Speaker Maheswar Mohanty rightly gauged the mood of the House and directed the departments of Forest, and Revenue and Disaster Management to make statements on the issue in the Assembly giving details of the steps being taken to control the problem.

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