Jajpur: Lack of proper management has rendered as many as 10 elephant corridors out of the total 14 identified in the state defunct, a report said Thursday. Funds worth Rs 114 crore have been spent on conservation and upkeep of elephant corridors but this has failed to serve any purpose due to the absence of proper management. As a result, man-animal conflict is on the rise and this also makes the pachyderms vulnerable to external threats.
However, no particular details are available as of now on the exact number of elephant corridors present in the state. Various agencies and outfits have identified elephant corridors differently on the basis of inputs available to them. The matter came to the fore during a reply to a question by the state Forests, Environment and Climate Change Minister Pradip Kumar Amat in the state Assembly, September 26, 2023. Amat’s reply was based on the inputs available from the divisional forest officers (DFOs) of various forest divisions and field-level agencies. In his reply, Amat said that the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) had identified nine elephant corridors in the state in 2005. The state government in a report titled ‘Gaja’ published in 2011-12 had identified nine elephant corridors on the basis of their priority. The state government identified 14 elephant corridors in 2011-12. In 2017, the WTI in a report identified 12 elephant corridors in the state. The Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF) in a report identified 14 elephant corridors out of which 10 have become defunct.
The report also identified a new elephant corridor in the state. The minister said that the Centre has been urged to prepare a guideline on identifying elephant corridors, management, and legal security. The minister also mentioned that funds worth Rs 115,66,36,750 have been spent under various schemes for the conservation of the elephant corridors during the last five years from 2018-19 to 2022-23. The Centre had prepared a long-term plan for the protection of the elephants in August 2010. It also formed a task force and scheme titled ‘Gaja’ for the purpose. Accordingly, the Odisha Chief Conservator of Forests had informed that there are 14 elephant corridors and three elephant reserves comprising 870.61 sq. km of area having a length of 420.8 km and width ranging from 0.08 to 4.6km. However, 843 elephants have died by 2020-21 due to the absence of proper management in these elephant corridors and reserve forests. A case (129/2016) has been filed in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) against the 14 elephant corridors identified by ANCF.
Two years back, hearing the case, the NGT directed to issue an ordinance on elephant corridors on the basis of the Environment Protection Act within a period of two months. The NGT also directed the state Chief Secretary to submit an action plan before it. The NGT has instilled hope among environmentalists. They thought that the restrictions imposed in eco-sensitive zones and the Wildlife Protection Act could be implemented under schemes for elephant corridors. However, the action plan is yet to be properly implemented. The government has spent Rs 14.38 crore in 2018-19, Rs 21.99 crore in 2019-20, Rs 31.34 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 25.45 crore in 2021-22 for the elephant corridors and towards the protection and growth of elephant habitats. Funds worth Rs 1.31 crore have been lying unspent as per sources. Environmentalists said if government funds are properly spent, man-animal conflict can be controlled ensuring the pachyderms’ safety.