Kokilabari (Assam): An ex-gratia package of 25,000 rupees was provided to the family of late Lakhi Basumatary by the Assam Forest Department and International Fund for Animal Welfare – Wildlife Trust of India (IFAW-WTI) recently.

Basumatary was killed in a conflict with elephants last month near Kokilabari Reserve Forest in Manas Tiger Reserve.

Handing over the cheque to the deceased’s wife Lalita Basumatary at the office of Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society in Kokilabari, Anindya Swargiary, Field Director, Manas National Park, said, “This fund comes in the form of a quick relief. Due to administrative formalities, aids of this nature usually take a lot of time before it finally reaches the victim’s family.”

The amount provided to Basumatary was part of IFAW’s support to WTI’s Greater Manas Conservation Project. In a similar case, ex-gratia payment was made to the family of another local person Hala Brahma, who lost his life in conflict with elephants in Kokilabari a few months ago.

“Human-elephant conflict is one of the issues hampering elephant conservation across India. There’s obviously no quick fix solution. Even as different methodologies are tried out to mitigate this issue, the difficulties faced by victims, be it elephants or people, must be addressed. The relief provided under the Greater Manas Conservation Project is just a ‘bandage solution’, but we believe that this will help out these families during their hour of need,” said Radhika Bhagat, Officer-in-Charge, Wild Aid division, WTI.

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