Critical to set up elephant corridors to curb human-animal conflict: State

MP | 20 Jan 2023 | Kolkata: The state government has drawn the attention of the Centre towards the importance of identifying new elephant corridors as they have been changing their routes. The state has also sought cooperation from the Centre to set up elephant corridors to check the incidents of human-animal conflict. 

During a high-level interstate meeting held in the city on Thursday, state Forest department officials touched upon several issues with the Centre. Senior government officials from Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh took part in the meeting. Ramesh Kumar Pandey, Project Elephant director was also present at the programme along with Bengal forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick. 

Pandey said according to the survey, the forest areas have been shrinking in the past few years. The animals are entering the human habitat due to unavailability of food in the forest. The state government is setting up elephant corridors here like other states. In Bengal, around 57 people died in elephant attacks in 2022-23 while in 2021-22 the number remained at 77. 

The figure was registered at 117 in 2020-21 and 134 in 2019-20. The state Forest department officials have carried out a detailed presentation showing how the number of victims dropping in the past few years due to various initiatives taken up by the state. Forest minister Mallick pointed out that the Bengal government provides a huge amount of compensation to the victims’ family members unlike other states. 

The Bengal government also provides employment to a family member of the victim. Incidentally, the Bengal government has also mentioned in the meeting that elephants are secured here and new corridors are being set up. A total of seven elephant corridors are coming up in North Bengal while around four in South Bengal. 

The Bengal government urges the Centre to give permission to set up more elephant corridors. Incidents of human-animal conflicts have gone down in the state. Mallick had earlier stated that the state government would take up the issue of elephant corridors with neighbouring Nepal to ensure smooth movement of the pachyderms between the two countries. As many as five elephant corridors, passing through tea estates, would soon be revived in the Jalpaiguri district. 

The minister had also pointed out that elephants were venturing into India from Nepal but were not able to return as the corridors to Nepal had been blocked by the neighbouring country. 

This has resulted in considerable increase in the number of elephants in the bordering areas, including Khoribari and Naxalbari on the Indian side. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/critical-to-set-up-elephant-corridors-to-curb-human-animal-conflict-state-506005