“Deeply painful news has been received about the death of three villagers in Shahdol district due to an elephant attack while they were collecting tendu leaves. Instructions have been issued to provide financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh each to the legal dependents of the deceased,” Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said.

According to officials, in the first incident, 40-year-old Umesh Kol from Sanousi village was collecting leaves with his wife when two wild elephants, believed to have strayed from Bandhavgarh, appeared near them. Umesh came face-to-face with the animals and was killed instantly, while his wife climbed a tree and called for help. Locals rushed to the scene, but by then, Umesh had died. The elephants moved toward the Sanjay Gandhi Tiger Reserve after the attack, officials said.

In the second incident, 65-year-old Devganiya Baiga of Dhonda village was killed in the Doda forest while collecting leaves. Police said the woman was attacked by elephants that emerged unexpectedly from the forest. Her death came to light only after forest officials reached the area to respond to the earlier attack.

A third victim, 80-year-old Mohan Lal Patel from Barachh village, was also killed in an encounter with an elephant near Kolhuwa–Ghatwa.

“These deaths come amid rising concerns over increasing human-elephant conflict in the region. Over two dozen wild elephants have been roaming the Beohari forests for months, prompting the forest department to form dedicated monitoring teams,” a wildlife officer said.

The incidents came just after the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet approved a detailed Rs 47.11-crore plan for the management of wild elephants and the reduction of human-elephant conflicts. The decision, announced Tuesday, came seven months after the death of 10 elephants — nine of them pregnant — reportedly due to mycotoxin poisoning from millet crops in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in October 2024.

The plan spans from 2023-24 to 2026-27. Rs 1.52 crore has already been spent in 2023-24 and 2024-25 on elephant safety and monitoring. The government has earmarked Rs 20 crore for 2025-26 and Rs 25.59 crore for 2026-27.

The plan includes monitoring and safety measures for elephants inside and outside protected areas, habitat development, and infrastructure to mitigate human-wildlife conflict. Wildlife officials will also establish control rooms with surveillance systems and rescue and rehabilitation efforts will be expanded. “Training will also be provided to local villagers, forest staff, and other department officials to manage conflict zones effectively,” the officer said.