ODISHA

Incidents of human-elephant encounters during April, May and June this year have seen an increase of 26 per cent compared to the data of the past nine years during the same period, a survey done by theWildlife Society of Odishahas found.

According to the survey, these three months witness most encounters as humans and elephants vie for the same fruits such as mango, stoneappleand jackfruit.

There were as many as 93 human-elephant encounters in the three months this year compared to 69 incidents reported during the corresponding period in 2022.

As many as 57 people have died this year compared to 38 last year.

The sharp rise suggests that this year the number of human deaths could go up significantly compared to 146 last year.

Incidentally, this quarter also happens to have recorded the highest ever human deaths in elephant attack compared to the past nine years, the survey stated.

Covidinfection continues to rise inOdishawith 26 of the 30 districts reporting over 1,000 active positive cases, categorized as red zone, after the state registered 11,732 cases from 56,842 samples tested in the past 24 hours, a test positivity rate (TPR) of 20.63%. Only Deogarh, Malkangiri, Gajapati andKandhamaldistricts have now less than 1,000 active cases.

The Average positivity rate continues to hover between 20% and 24% for the past one week, though in some western Odisha districts, where the TPR had soared to 50%-70%, witnessed a decline.

Ganjam Collector Vijaya Amruta Kulange has declared the district as completely child marriage-free.

After duly verified by the respective Block Development Officers, Tehsildars, Executive Officers, NACs and Child Marriage Officers of the district which have been recommended by the respective GPs, Wards, and village-level Task Force committees, the administration has declared the district as child marriage free.

The order said that the district comprises of 3,309 child marriage free villages; 280 child marriage free wards under ULBs and 503 child marriage free gram panchayats.

It may be mentioned that Kulange took personal interest and initiatives for successful implementation of Nirbhaya Kadhee scheme of the State Government in Ganjam district to prevent child marriage and took several initiatives in this direction under the direct supervision of Sarpanches, Anganwadi workers and ASHAs at grass root level forsuccessful implementation of the scheme.