The responsibility for wildlife protection and managing human-wildlife conflicts primarily lies with State and Union Territory governments. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change does not maintain detailed records on crop damage caused by wild animals.
However, the government has taken several important steps to safeguard crops and protect wildlife, including:
- Centrally Sponsored Schemes: These include the ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger’, and ‘Project Elephant’. These initiatives focus on the management of wildlife and their habitats across the country, including compensation for damage caused by wild animals, such as crop destruction, cattle lifting, and loss of life or property.
- Wildlife Protection Measures: Activities under these schemes support the construction of physical barriers like barbed wire fences, solar-powered electric fences, and bio-fencing with cactus to prevent wild animals from entering crop fields. Additionally, efforts are made to improve wildlife habitats by enhancing the availability of food and water in forest areas, which helps reduce animal movement into human settlements. Anti-depredation squads are also set up to manage problematic animals.
- Relief for Crop Damage: State governments offer financial relief for crop damage caused by wild animals from their own funds.
- Ex-Gratia Relief: In December 2023, the government enhanced the ex-gratia relief amounts for those affected by wild animal attacks. Under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes, the current ex-gratia relief rates are as follows:
- Death or permanent incapacitation: Rs. 10 lakh
- Grievous injury: Rs. 2 lakh
- Minor injury: Cost of treatment up to Rs. 25,000 per person
- Loss of property/crops: Relief is determined by State/UT governments according to their own cost norms.
- Wildlife Translocation: The Wildlife (Protection) Act empowers the Chief Wildlife Warden to capture and translocate wild animals to alternate, suitable habitats as part of scientific wildlife management.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
