By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Amid fresh spurt in the man-animal conflicts in Uttarakhand especially in the past one month, the government on Saturday announced that it would bear the entire cost of treatment for those injured in attacks by bears, leopards and other animals.
Besides, the government said it has increased compensation amount from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 10 lakh for the families of those killed in such attacks.
These decisions were taken at a high level meeting presided over by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who expressed serious concern over incidents of wildlife conflicts. Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan and other top officials attended the meeting. “The Chief Minister issued clear instructions that the state government will bear the entire cost of treatment for those injured in bear and other wildlife attacks,” an official statement said.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister said the government was committed to provide timely and adequate medical care to every injured person. He directed the forest and health departments to ensure that there is no delay in such medical treatments and that the necessary resources should be immediately made available to the victims.
The Chief Minister strictly instructed officials to provide better treatment to the injured and also strengthen security and awareness measures in the affected areas.
As the attacks mount during the past one month, top forest officials said several factors like climate change, excessive rains during the monsoon period, increased human activities in the jungles are leading to spurt in such attacks particularly related to bears. “These factors are also responsible for the shortening of the hibernation period of bears,” said Ranjan Mishra Chief Wildlife Warden.
This year, at least five people have been killed by bears in the state. Besides, 69 people have also been injured some seriously in such attacks this year. In leopard attacks, 12 people have lost lives in the state where 88 persons have also been injured in these attacks elsewhere.
Mishra also said the government has also launched various awareness programmes in the state in view of the wildlife conflicts.