Joda: The ever-expanding mining operations in Keonjhar district have forced elephants out of their natural habitats into human habitations, leading to frequent conflicts with local communities. Large-scale deforestation for mining has destroyed traditional elephant corridors, leaving the world’s largest land mammal displaced and vulnerable.
With forests shrinking, herds in search of shelter and food sources are straying into villages, leading to tension with people and resulting in loss of lives, both elephant and human. According to the Forest Department, about 55 elephants are now roaming the Barbil and Champua forest ranges. As the natural habitat of the animals and their movement corridors have been destroyed, the herds stray into nearby villages in search of food as night descends. In the Balibandh forest section under Champua forest range and in Barbil forest range, 32 elephants have been sighted, while 14 were roaming in the Bamebari section.
Another eight elephants have moved from Bhuyan Juang Pirha range under the Bansapal block to Bamebari area. A lone elephant has been spotted in the Belda area of the Joda forest range, forest officials said. Forest department records show that thousands of hectares of reserve forests, forests identified by the district level committee (DLC), and revenue forests have been diverted for mining. In Joda forest range alone, more than 2,000 hectares of forest land have been converted, while about 5,200 hectares in Barbil and Champua ranges are under mining activity.
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Officials said mining companies purchase land through district land banks and pay the government the net present value of the trees cut, based on forest density. These legal clearances, including diversion plans approved by the state and Central governments, allow companies to convert forestland for non-forest use. But conservationists warn that while the system legitimises mining, it leaves wildlife— particularly elephants—without safe habitats, intensifying man-animal conflicts across the district.
Mining companies are required to submit wildlife plans to the government before using forest land. But experts say those plans often remain buried in files, leaving large animals like elephants without their natural habitats. In place of destroyed forests, new plantations are often created with acacia saplings. Conservationists argue that such artificial forests cannot support wildlife the way natural forests do. While acacia plantations showcase official efficiency, they fail to restore habitats for wild animals.
According to Forest Department sources, the state government has now directed that acacia and similar trees should not be planted. Instead, saplings of species useful to elephants — such as bamboo, kumbhi, ebony fruit, cotton tree and banyan — are being grown. More than 11,000 such saplings have already been planted this month in the Champua range, sources said. Environmentalist Uday Shankar Acharya said the initiative is long overdue. He criticised mining companies for abandoning pits after extraction without reclamation, which prevents natural forest regeneration. In many cases, the Forest Department creates plantations in vacant patches near villages rather than in mined areas. Illegal and unregulated mining has further destroyed elephant corridors.
In several places, slurry pipelines have blocked traditional migratory paths, leaving elephants unable to cross into other forests. Acharya warned that unless urgent steps are taken, elephants, like many other rare species, could face extinction.
