Chandrapur: The escalating man-wildlife conflict across Maharashtra has resulted in 501 human fatalities, nearly 4,000 injuries, over 30,000 livestock deaths, and damage to more than five lakh crop holdings over the past six years. This data, obtained by Nagpur-based activist Abhay Kolarkar under the Right to Information (RTI) Act from the state forest department, reveals a widening crisis in tiger corridors and forest-fringe villages.
Rising Human Casualties
According to the RTI reply, human deaths rose sharply from 82 in 2020-21 to a peak of 111 in 2022-23. After a slight dip, fatalities increased again, with 91 deaths recorded in 2025-26. Injuries surged more than threefold from 401 in 2020-21 to 1,312 in 2023-24, indicating either more encounters or improved reporting, or both.
Livestock and Crop Damage
The year 2023-24 recorded the worst livestock toll, with over 7,152 cattle killed and 17,740 injured. Crop damage incidents skyrocketed from roughly 35,100 in 2020-21 to over 2.11 lakh in 2023-24 — a nearly sixfold increase in three years — before easing to 1.63 lakh in 2024-25 and 61,458 in 2025-26.
Compensation System Under Strain
The Maharashtra government compensates victims under a policy notified in February 2024. Compensation for human fatalities is Rs 25 lakh; permanent disability Rs 7.5 lakh; serious injuries Rs 5 lakh. Cattle deaths are compensated at 75% of market value, capped at Rs 70,000 per large animal. However, the aggregate payout of Rs 763.10 crore over six years has lagged behind the scale of documented losses.
Annual compensation disbursed under Mahakosh increased from Rs 80.22 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 184.78 crore in 2024-25 — a doubling over five years. Yet critics point to processing delays and documentation burdens that leave many victims, particularly tribal farmers, without timely relief.
Call for Policy Intervention
Kolarkar emphasized the urgency of a dedicated man-animal conflict mitigation policy. "These are not statistics. Each number is a family that lost its breadwinner or a farmer who lost an entire harvest," he told TOI.
The cumulative figures over six years include: 501 human deaths, 3,934 human injuries, 30,739 cattle deaths, 74,531 cattle injuries, 5,51,479 crop damage incidents, and collective compensation of Rs 763.1 crore.
