[ Pisi Zauing ]
NINGRANG, 9 Mar: The Miao Singpho Ramma Hpung (MSRH) has demanded immediate financial compensation and a government job for a family member of Gam Ong Singpho, a resident of Ningrang village in Miao administrative circle of Changlang district, who was brutally attacked by a wild male elephant on the outskirts of his village on 24 February.
Family members and villagers rushed Gam Ong Singpho to Aditya Super Speciality Hospital in Dibrugarh, Assam, where he is currently undergoing advanced medical treatment.
In a statement issued to the media, the MSRH said that the victim has sustained extremely severe and life-threatening injuries. Doctors attending to him have confirmed multiple internal injuries in the thoracic region. Several ribs have been fractured, and his left leg has also suffered serious fractures. His urinary bladder and intra-abdominal organs have been badly damaged.
The MSRH further informed that, immediately after the tragic incident, the victim’s brother, N’khum Nongrin Singpho, submitted a written representation to the field director and the conservator of forests of the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, informing the authorities about the brutal attack and the critical condition of his brother.
Despite submission of representations to the field director and the conservator of forests, as well as to the local administration, no financial assistance has been extended so far, the MSRH said.
The organisation pointed out that the tragic incident occurred due to human-wildlife conflict in the buffer zone of the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve, and therefore the park management and the authorities concerned cannot escape their responsibility.
“In such a grave humanitarian crisis, the authorities should have immediately come forward with financial relief to support the victim’s medical treatment,” the MSRH said.
Highlighting the socioeconomic condition of the victim, the MSRH said that Gam Ong Singpho is a poor man and the sole breadwinner of his family. His family depends entirely on his daily labour for survival. With no stable income and mounting medical bills, the family is struggling to arrange funds for his life-saving treatment, the organisation stated.
Expressing deep concern over the delay in providing assistance, the organisation demanded that the government and the management of the Namdapha National Park and Tiger Reserve immediately provide adequate financial compensation to cover the victim’s medical expenses.
The MSRH also strongly urged the authorities to provide a government job to one eligible member of the victim’s family, so that they can sustain their livelihood.
The MSRH also appealed to the departments concerned to take urgent measures to address the growing menace of human-wildlife conflict in the region, so that such heartbreaking incidents do not continue to devastate villagers living in the vicinity of protected forests.
