The Uttarakhand Rural Development and Migration Prevention Commission is conducting a study on the impact of wild animals destroying agricultural fields and will submit its findings to the state government by the end of March. The study was commissioned as such damage has been cited as a contributing factor to migration from rural areas.
Data has been collected from nearly 7,000 gram panchayats across Uttarakhand and analysis is currently underway, said Sharad Singh Negi, vice-chairman of the committee. “We are assessing the extent of the damage, identifying which wildlife is causing the most damage, which crops are affected, and in which areas the problem is most severe.”
Negi said the nature of the problem varies geographically. “In some areas, monkeys pose a major threat. In others, wild boars cause widespread damage to crops. Nilgai, elephants and porcupines are also responsible.”
He said the impact of wild animals is one of the reasons why people migrate. “According to our findings [in previous reports]It contributes about 7-8% to migration.
The new study will examine the mechanism for compensating farmers affected by damage to wildlife. Negi said compensation provisions exist, but many do not file claims. “There is a provision for compensation, but the process is not very smooth. People face difficulties in claiming compensation, which discourages them.” He said that the committee will document the local solutions that people have adopted to address this issue.
In December, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said solar fencing and sensor-based warning systems would be installed across the state to address damage to crops due to increasing human-wildlife conflict.
The Uttarakhand forest department in August last year granted conditional permission for hunting wild boars and nilgai that damage crops.
The state government formed the committee in August 2017 to study the problem, develop a vision for focused development of rural areas of the state, and make recommendations on how to stop the migration. The commission submitted its first statewide report on immigration in 2018 and has issued 25 such reports to date.
The committee’s first report stated that more than 3,83,726 people left villages temporarily during eight years from 2011 to 2018, while 1,18,981 people migrated permanently. Another report in March 2023 said that 3,07,310 people migrated temporarily in five years (2018-22), while 28,531 people migrated permanently. As many as 734 villages were abandoned between 2011 and 2018, and 24 villages between 2018 and 2022.
About 350,000 people returned to their villages or nearby areas during the first wave of Covid-19 in March 2020. As many as 115,000 people returned during the second wave in 2021. But almost all of them returned, the commission said. In July 2022, Al-Dhami issued directives to form a committee to improve the implementation of the committee’s recommendations.
