A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: Allegations have been raised of negligence in providing compensations to persons injured or killed in wild animal attacks in Numaligarh and surrounding areas.
On November 8, 2024, a young man named Narahari Das was injured in a sudden attack by a wild buffalo while working in an agricultural field on a riverine sandbar near the Dhansiri river at Chinakan village of Kuruwabahi, under the Numaligarh range forest office. He sustained severe injuries to his chest. With the help of local residents, Das was immediately admitted to Jorhat Medical College & Hospital for treatment. Despite prolonged treatment with the support of local people and family members, the unfortunate youth has still not fully recovered. As he belongs to a very poor family, his relatives have been unable to provide him with advanced medical treatment. Moreover, as the injured youth is the sole earning member of the family, a situation of extreme distress has now arisen due to the loss of income.
In such a context, despite submitting all necessary applications, the family has not received the compensation they are entitled to, allegedly due to gross negligence by the Forest Department. According to government norms, a person seriously injured in a wild animal attack should receive compensation ranging from fifty thousand to one lakh rupees.
The family alleges that Bokakhat MLA and Minister Atul Bora provided the family with only five thousand rupees, while the Numaligarh Range Forest Office gave them only a small amount of money.
Even now, waiting in hope, Narahari Das’s wife told this correspondent, “We submitted our application immediately after the incident. The forest officials gave us assurances many times, but till today we have not received even a single rupee.”
In the larger Morangi mouza, several families of people injured or killed due to ongoing human–elephant conflict have also lodged numerous complaints of not receiving compensation from the Forest Department.
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