Lok Sabha Question No. 181 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-09
Subject: Funds for Human-Animal Conflicts
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri N K Premachandran

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 181

TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2024

## Funds for Human-Animal Conflicts

## *181.   SHRI N K PREMACHANDRAN:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether the Union Government proposes to give special financial assistance to mitigate human animal conflicts, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Union  Government  has  conducted  any  study  regarding  the  gravity  of  the human animal conflicts, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  State  of  Kerala  submitted  report  regarding  the  loss  of  life  and  loss  of property due to the wild animal attacks in the State, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Union Government has initiated action or provided special assistance to the State of Kerala, if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Union Government proposes to extend assistance to victims of wild animal attack in the said State, if so, the details of action taken thereon; and
- (f) whether the Government proposes to implement an integrated project for mitigation of human animal conflicts, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BHUPENDER YADAV)

(a) to (f)

A statement is laid on the table of the House

***

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *181  REGARDING  'FUNDS  FOR  HUMAN-ANIMAL CONFLICTS' BY SHRI N K PREMACHANDRAN FOR REPLY ON 09.12.2024.

- (a) The protection and management of wildlife, including human wildlife conflict management  is primarily the responsibility of the State/Union Territory Governments.Incidences  of  human-wildlife  conflicts  have  been  reported  from the different parts of the country. The Ministry provides financial assistance to State/UT  Governments  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  -Integrated Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats  which  includes  'Development  of  Wildlife Habitats'  and  'Project  Tiger  and  Elephant'which  aims  at  conservation  and protection of wildlife and improvement of habitat including to mitigate human animal conflicts.
- (b) The  Ministry  coordinates  with  State  and  Union  Territory  Governments  for assessing  information  relating  to  human-wildlife  conflict  situations  leading  to human  causalities  due  to  conflicts  involving  wild  animals  like  tigers  and elephants.  The  Ministry  through  wide  ranging  technical  consultations  has brought out species specific guidelines for dealing with human-wildlife conflicts due to Elephant, Gaur, Leopard, Snake, Crocodile, Rhesus Macaque, Wild Pig, Bear, Blue Bull and Blackbuck.

Ministry  has  also  issued  holistic  advisories  and  guidelines  to  the  States  and Union  Territory  Governments  to  deal  with  human-wildlife  conflict  situations dated  6.2.2021  and  3.6.2022.  The  guidelines  provide  for  constitution  of  State Level  Co-ordination  Committees.  The  mandate  of  these  committees  include monitoring the human wildlife conflict cases and their geographical spread, and provideguidance to different departments for actions to be taken to minimise and prevent human wildlife conflict in those areas.

- (c) As per the information received from the State of Kerala, the details regarding the instances of human-wild animal conflicts including number of causalities in the last three years in the state of Kerala is as follows:

(In Numbers)

| Year                      |   Human Death |   Human injury |   Crop and property damage |   Cattle Death |
|---------------------------|---------------|----------------|----------------------------|----------------|
| 2021-22                   |           114 |            758 |                       6580 |            514 |
| 2022-23                   |            98 |           1275 |                       6863 |            637 |
| 2023-24                   |            94 |           1603 |                       6108 |            633 |
| 2024-25 (till 15/07/2024) |            10 |             59 |                        455 |             60 |

- (d) to (f) The  details  of  funds  released  to  State/UTs  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored Schemes - 'Development of Wildlife Habitats' and 'Project Tiger and Elephant'

including for the state of Kerala during last three years are at Annexure I and Annexure II.

The  Ministry  has  enhanced  the  amount  of  ex-gratia  relief  in  case  of  death  or permanent incapacitation due to wild animal attacks during December 2023. At present,  the  amount  of  ex-gratia  relief  payable  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored Schemes - 'Development of Wildlife Habitats' and 'Project Tiger and Elephant' is as follows:

| Sl.   | Nature of damage caused by wild animals   | Amount of ex-gratia relief                                           |
|-------|-------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| i.    | Death or permanent incapacitation         | Rs.10.00 lakh                                                        |
| ii.   | Grievous injury                           | Rs.2.00 lakh                                                         |
| iii.  | Minor injury                              | Cost of treatment up to Rs.25,000/-per person                        |
| iv.   | Loss of property/crops                    | State/UT government may adhere to the cost norms prescribed by them. |

The  schemes  implemented  by  the  Ministry  namely  the  'Development  of Wildlife  Habitats'  and  'Project  Tiger  and  Elephant'aims  at  holistic  habitat management including mitigate human animal conflicts. The scheme provides funding for various interventions including animal proof fencing, antidepredation  squads,  rapid  response  teams,  ex-gratia  relief,  technology  based animal tracking etc.

*****

## Annexure-I

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (d) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *181 due for reply on 09.12.2024 regarding 'Funds for Human-Animal Conflicts'.

Details  of  funds  released  to  State/  UT  Governments  under  CSS-'Development  of  Wildlife Habitats' during last three years.

(₹. in lakhs)

| S. No.   | Name of States/UTs   |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|----------|----------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | A&NIslands           |  135.77   |   25.125  |    0      |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh    |  419.806  |  276.441  |  672.462  |
| 3        | Assam                |    0      |  209.146  |  565.108  |
| 4        | Bihar                |  410.86   |    0      |  336.372  |
| 5        | Chandigarh           |    0      |   21.6241 |   16.498  |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh         |  274.59   |  104.457  |  116.249  |
| 7        | Goa                  |    0      |    0      |   50.1    |
| 8        | Gujarat              |    0      |  200.01   |  206.99   |
| 9        | Haryana              |  127.331  |   30.1575 |  167.85   |
| 10       | Himachal Pradesh     |  197.095  |  114.32   |   94.1533 |
| 11       | Jammu &Kashmir       |    0      |    0      |   69.5797 |
| 12       | Jharkhand            |   79.5332 |    0      |   14.9102 |
| 13       | Karnataka            | 1256.59   |  291.711  |  581.523  |
| 14       | Kerala               |  295.774  |  224.474  |  921.036  |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh       |  389.349  |  265.551  |  471.82   |
| 16       | Maharashtra          |    0      |  350.388  |  554.696  |
| 17       | Manipur              |  142.506  |  180.644  |  231.724  |
| 18       | Meghalaya            |  530.513  |    0      |  243.566  |
| 19       | Mizoram              |  198.968  |  190.198  |  304.207  |
| 20       | Nagaland             |  342.031  |  725.657  | 1306.33   |
| 21       | Odisha               |  726.803  |  967.498  | 1005.09   |
| 22       | Rajasthan            | 1007.65   |   86.7889 |    0      |
| 23       | Sikkim               |  182.972  |  239.66   |  187.032  |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu           |  390.757  |  132.952  |  373.89   |
| 25       | Uttar Pradesh        |  169.063  |  266.747  |  290.644  |
| 26       | Uttarakhand          |  226.344  |  212.966  |  498.497  |
| 27       | West Bengal          |  757.256  |  201.309  |  385.3    |
| 28       | Puducherry           |    0      |    0      |    5.22   |
| 29       | Lakshadweep          |  462.086  |  269.906  |  124.655  |
| 30       | Tripura              |    0      |    0      |  186.055  |
| 31       | Ladakh UT            |   31.95   |   61.1159 |    0.06   |
|          | Grand Total          | 8755.6    | 5648.85   | 9981.61   |

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (d) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *181 due for reply on 09.12.2024 regarding 'Funds for Human-Animal Conflicts'.

Details  of  funds  released  to  State/  UT  Governments  under  CSS-'Project  Tiger  and  Elephant' during last three years.

(₹. in lakhs)

| Sl. No.   | State             | 2021-22       | 2021-22          | 2022-23 2023-24   | 2022-23 2023-24   | 2022-23 2023-24          |
|-----------|-------------------|---------------|------------------|-------------------|-------------------|--------------------------|
| Sl. No.   | State             | Project Tiger | Project Elephant | Project Tiger     | Project Elephant  | *Project Tiger& Elephant |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 292.11        | 20.5565          | 0.00              | 0.00              | 149.421                  |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh | 869.08        | 157.7615         | 0.00              | 26.8875           | 1119.9145                |
| 3         | Assam             | 1476.75       | 126.716          | 336.22            | 167.4             | 2619.3078                |
| 4         | Bihar             | 552.72        | -                | 0.00              | 0.00              | 308.9825                 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      | 355.85        | 24.785           | 82.88             | 0.00              | 292.855                  |
| 6         | Haryana           | 0.00          | 4.2345           | 0.00              | 17.4              | 26.1                     |
| 7         | Himachal Pradesh  | 0.00          | 0.00             | 0.00              | 0.00              | 19.61                    |
| 8         | Jharkhand         | 195.06        | 86.682           | 17.26             | 78.05             | 405.785                  |
| 9         | Karnataka         | 2956.70       | 261.195          | 235.24            | 97.8453           | 2613.0834                |
| 10        | Kerala            | 868.78        | 580.96765        | 417.59            | 270.09            | 996.22425                |
| 11        | Madhya Pradesh    | 3523.52       | 12.613           | 1172.51           | 11.388            | 4303.794                 |
| 12        | Maharashtra       | 2991.06       | -                | 0.00              | 28.524            | 2614.4517                |
| 13        | Manipur           | 0.00          | 5.40             | 0.00              | 0.00              | 14.121                   |
| 14        | Meghalaya         | 0.00          | 141.75           | 0.00              | 32.14             | 65.25                    |
| 15        | Mizoram           | 374.13        | -                | 0.00              | 0.00              | 144                      |
| 16        | Nagaland          | 0.00          | 279.759          | 0.00              | 235.575           | 337.77                   |
| 17        | Odisha            | 1056.86       | 567.045          | 190.27            | 212.7695          | 1012.5876                |
| 18        | Rajasthan         | 841.05        | 15.18            | 0.00              | 6.18609           | 968.3004                 |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu        | 1576.22       | 181.8464         | 0.00              | 85.9405           | 2547.9665                |
| 20        | Telangana         | 543.26        | -                | 0.00              | 0                 | 323.308                  |
| 21        | Tripura           | -             | -                | 0.00              | 7.36516           | 27.0855                  |
| 22        | Uttarakhand       | 1463.71       | 244.12375        | 0.00              | 18.7415           | 1495.5241                |
| 23        | Uttar Pradesh     | 1304.85       | 45.993           | 0.00              | 9.858             | 1031.9767                |
| 24        | West Bengal       | 708.28        | 87.8717          | 0.00              | 30.05             | 522.58101                |
|           |                   | 21949.99      | 2844.48          | 2451.97           | 1336.211          | 23960                    |