Govt to compensate in case of any loss: minister

Environment Minister Md Shahab Uddin urged people not to kill elephants, as the government will provide compensation in case of any loss caused by the critically endangered animal.

The minister made the appeal at an event organised to hand over cheques of compensation to the families who lost their near ones in human-elephant conflicts in Rangamati's Kaptai. Fourteen families received Tk 6.30 lakh.

Shahab said the government has raised the amount of compensation from Tk 1 lakh to 3 lakh for death. In case of injury, the amount has been raised to Tk 1 lakh from 50,000. Farmers will be given Tk 50,000, which was Tk 25,000 earlier, if their crops are damaged in elephant raids.

The minister said the crops are being raided as human settlement and development shrunk elephant habitat. An 8-kilometre solar fence has been built to fend off elephant attacks in Kaptai.

He said under various projects in the hilly areas, fodder gardens for elephants are being created to enrich the forest and reduce food crisis.

Md Amir Hossain Chowdhury, chief conservator of Forest Department; Bipul Krishna Das, Chattogram region conservator of forests; and Saiful Islam, additional deputy commissioner of Rangamati, spoke as special guests in the meeting chaired by Rangamati Region Forest Conservator Mohammad Mizanur Rahman.