BHUBANESWAR: The State government will provide financial support to over 700 Van Suraksha Samitis (VSSs) this year to engage more ‘Gaja Sathis’ (friend of elephants) for tracking movement of the pachyderms.Last year, around 517 VSSs had received Rs 25,000 each from the government for engagement of ‘Gaja Sathis’ in conflict zones and human settlements close to elephant corridors.
“Considering the success of the scheme last year, the department has decided to engage more such volunteers through VSSs in villages surrounding elephant corridors to get information on their movement and location,” said a forest official.
The State government has earmarked around Rs 2 crore budget for the purpose. Five persons from a cluster of villages will be engaged by the VSSs as ‘Gaja Sathis’ and will be provided firecrackers, lights and other tools to track and drive elephant herds away from human habitations.Apart from monitoring the movement of elephants, the volunteers will coordinate with anti-depredation squads and sensitise villagers about presence of jumbos, if any, in nearby areas.
In 2019, the State government had launched ‘Gaja Bandhu’ Scheme to get early inputs on movement of elephants. However, the scheme was replaced with ‘Gaja Sathis’ last year as the provision of Rs 10,000 remuneration under ‘Gaja Bandhu’ led to resentment among villagers over the selection procedure.
While ‘Gaja Sathis’ will be engaged purely on voluntary basis, Forest officials said the VSSs will now have the authority to utilise Rs 25,000 annual assistance towards incentives for these volunteers or any other preventive measures/development work in their villages to reduce man-elephant conflict. Besides, the ‘Gaja Sathis’ will be engaged for a temporary period, primarily from October to February, during which elephants frequently stray into crop fields and human settlements.