India, July 21 -- Human-elephant conflicts have led to the deaths of 628 people just last year, the highest in the past five years, the Union environment ministry told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

In 2019-20, there were 595 deaths; 479 in 2020-21; 571 in 2021-22; 610 in 2022-23 and 628 in 2023-24. The maximum cases last year were reported from Odisha (154), followed by West Bengal (99) and Jharkhand (87).

The ministry further said that 74 people had died in human-tiger conflicts last year. In 2020, that number stood at 51; 60 in 2021; 111 in 2022 and 86 in 2023. Five people died in Uttarakhand last year, up from 0 in 2023; 3 in 2022; 1 in 2021 and 0 in 2020. Assam also reported 4 human deaths in tiger attacks, up from 0 since 2020.

Kirti V...