An elusive tigress that has been on a multiple-district expedition in Bengal after an Odyssean trail through Odisha and Jharkhand has had this state riveted for over a week.

Away from the spotlight, two fishermen from the Sunderbans have been receiving treatment in Calcutta hospitals after tiger attacks left them grievously injured. Their plight has been made worse by the government’s perceived apathy in compensating tiger-attack victims and creating alternative job opportunities for residents of areas prone to man-animal conflicts so that they do not have to make risky forays into the forest for livelihood.

Haripada Das, in his late 30s, is being treated at SSKM Hospital while Sukdeb Sapui, 54, is admitted to Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital. Both had gone for fishing at two different places in the Sunderbans, family members said.

Family members of many of those killed or injured by tigers, and also NGOs working in the Sunderbans, alleged that they had applied for compensation with the forest department but did not receive any. Forest officials said Haripada and Sukdeb, and several other fishermen seeking compensation had gone into prohibited areas.

An NGO working for tiger conservation said the man-animal conflict can only be reduced if the government seriously worked to provide alternative sources of income to those dependent on the forest.

Haripada, a resident of Kultali in South 24-Parganas, was fishing in the Jharkhali area of the Sunderbans in July when he was attacked by a tiger.

“The boat had entered a creek and he was standing when the tiger attacked him,” Haripada’s wife, Anita, said. “The tiger went for his head and face. Those accompanying my husband said he fought the tiger valiantly and tried to punch it repeatedly. Then two others hit the tiger with their oars and it fled,” she said.

Hospital officials said Haripada had been in the trauma care centre for about two months before being shifted to another ward.

“Portions of his nose and gums have been bitten off by the tiger. He cannot eat and they have inserted a tube into his mouth to feed him,” Anita said.

Sukdeb, a resident of Maipith in Kultali, had gone to fish near Bonie Camp in the Sunderbans earlier this month when a tiger pounced on him. “For a few days, they had not been able to catch the desired amount of fish, so they had gone to another stretch of the river. There my uncle was attacked by a tiger,” said Sankar Sapui, Sukdeb’s nephew.

The tiger caught him by the waist and tried to drag him into the forest.

“Those with him saved him,” Sankar said. “We had gone to the forest beat office for the verification report that is required to seek compensation. But the forest department has not yet given it to us,” he alleged.

Hospital officials said Sukdeb had suffered a deep injury in the gastrointestinal system, mainly the liver, because of the bite. “There are also deep cuts in the chest caused by the tiger’s claws,” an official said.

Fishermen entering the forest for fishing, catching crabs or collecting honey need boat licence certificates.

“The certificates bear stamps that mention the areas they are not supposed to venture into. But many fishermen violate the order and go into the core areas. This triggers the tiger-man conflicts,” said a senior official of the state forest department.

The compensation amount is ₹5 lakh for the dead and ₹2 lakh for those critically injured in tiger attacks.

The Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR), a human rights organisation, said more than 150 people in the Sunderbans had been attacked
by tigers in the past seven-eight years, of whom around 100 died.

“Of these, compensation has been released in barely five cases,” said Mithun Mondal, assistant secretary of the APDR in South 24-Parganas.

“Last year, Calcutta High Court issued an order saying compensation would have to be provided irrespective of whether the attack had taken place in the core area (where entry is prohibited) or the buffer areas,” Mondal said.

The forest official said the department compensates those who have court orders for such payments despite entering prohibited areas.

Mondal said the APDR was helping some 300 victims of tiger attacks and their
families in the Sunderbans in their fight for compensation.

“We have also demanded jobs for one family member and education for the children of those killed,” he said. “For more than 10 years, no new boat licence certificate has been issued. After the Covid pandemic, many working as labourers in other states have returned to the Sunderbans and they should be provided the licence,” Mondal said.

Joydip Kundu, general secretary of the Society for Heritage & Ecological Research (SHER), an NGO that works to reduce man-animal conflicts in the Sunderbans, said providing alternative income to the people of the area was the only way to reduce such tragedies.

“Many who used to work in other states were forced to return to the Sunderbans after Covid and are again dependent on the forest for their livelihood,”

Kundu said. “The government has to come forward and provide alternative sources of livelihood,” he added.

Kundu said his organisation had provided portable LPG cylinders to 100 fishermen to run their boats. “This would prevent them from venturing into the forest in search of wood and leaves. But because of lack of funds, we could not continue the project,” he said.