Bablu Gazi, a 48-year-old honey collector badly hurt by a tiger in the Sundarbans, has received Tk 100,000 (1 lakh) in government compensation six months after the attack. The Satkhira range of the Sundarbans West Forest Division handed him the cheque at about 10 am on Wednesday at the range office in Shyamnagar upazila, under the Wildlife Attack Compensation Rules 2021.
Bablu lives in Dumuria village in Gabura union of Shyamnagar. On 10 May he was collecting honey with a licensed team in the Payratuni canal in the Kachhikata area of the Satkhira range when a tiger sprang on him from behind a thicket. His companions shouted and fought it off with sticks, and after a struggle of about 15 minutes the tiger let him go and disappeared into the forest.
The tiger's teeth and claws left wounds across his body and broke the upper bone of his right arm. Binding his wounds with a gamchha, he reached his companions and was brought back by boat. He was treated first at the Shyamnagar upazila health complex and then at Satkhira Medical College Hospital, where his fractured arm and other wounds were operated on.
Bablu told Prothom Alo he had not expected to survive, and that during the long treatment, unable to work in the forest, he struggled to feed his family. The cheque brought some relief, he said, but he can no longer work as he did before. He began going into the forest with his father at 13 or 14 and lives by catching fish and crabs and collecting honey. He is the main earner for his parents, his wife and three children.
Khulna region conservator of forests Imran Ahmed, Sundarbans West divisional forest officer AZM Hasanur Rahman and Satkhira range officer Shahinur Islam were present at the handover. Shahinur Islam said the 2021 rules give Tk 100,000 to a person seriously injured by wildlife and Tk 300,000 to the family of a person killed.
People who depend on the Sundarbans go into the forest for a living and face attacks from tigers and other animals, divisional forest officer Hasanur Rahman said; anyone injured after entering legally can claim compensation for treatment and rehabilitation. The forest department is stepping up regular patrols, SMART patrolling and nylon fencing, and is working with local people to reduce conflict between tigers and humans. The report is by Prothom Alo's Satkhira correspondent.
Photo: Mustmamun / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Prothom Alo
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