More than 1,100 people killed in human-animal conflict since 2016 in Assam: Minister

Guwahati, Jul 7 (PTI) More than 1,100 people have been killed in Assam in human-animal conflict since 2016, state Environment and Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah said on Tuesday. Responding to a question by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed in the Assembly, the minister said over 3.15 lakh hectares of reserved forest or protected area are under encroachment in the state. A total of 1,147 people have died in human-animal conflict between 2016 to 2026, with the highest casualties at 138 reported in 2025, followed by 116 in 2023 and 115 in 2018, Baruah said. During the same period, 246 elephants have died in the state due to various reasons, including electrocution, train accidents and poisoning. Of these, the highest 42 deaths of the pachyderms were reported in 2017, followed by 36 in 2025 and 27 in 2024, the minister said. He further said that the total reserved forest/ protected area in the state is 18,33,592.84 hectares. Of these, 3,15,997.1251 hectares are under encroachment as on February 12, 2026. Sharing figures on forest area cleared through eviction from 2015-16 till 2025-26, Baruah said 25,588.7656 hectares have been cleared. Quoting the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), the minister said total forest cover in 2023 was 28,313.55 hectares, which formed 36.1 per cent of the total geographical area of the state. It was a marginal increase from 28,105 hectares in 2017, which was 35.83 per cent of the total geographical area of the state. The minister further said 2,42,013 trees were felled under the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980, from 2016 to 2026, with arrangements made for compensatory afforestation as per set guidelines. PTI SSG SSG RG