New Delhi, Feb. 5 -- A recent order in the Calcutta High Court has opened the possibility of hundreds of hapless women in the Sundarbans, including a sizable number from the Adivasi community, getting compensation for losing their husbands and other male family members to tiger attacks while venturing out in and around forest areas to catch fish and crabs or collect honey.

The state government is unlikely to challenge the high court order and, in all likelihood, would pay the compensation soon, a senior forest official shared with this reporter on the evening of February 3, 2024.

Around 30 people lose their lives to tiger attacks in and around the Indian Sundarbans annually, according to locals, researchers and non-profits working in t...