Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a show cause notice to the Odisha Chief Secretary for the delay in issuing the notification for 14 elephant corridors in the state.
In August, 2021 the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had passed an order to notify 14 Elephant corridors in Odisha.
“We have waited for 15 months since the NGT order… We approached the NGT again, seeking directions to the chief secretary and also seeking imposition of penalty for failure to issue notification for elephant corridors by the state government,” said Biswajit Mohanty conservationist and former member of National Board for Wildlife.
“We had filed an application in this matter. Following a hearing on this matter by NGT on December 19, a show cause notice has been issued to the chief secretary. NGT has directed the chief secretary to give an appropriate answer by January 30, 2023,” Advocate Sanker Pani told PTI.
As per the last elephant census conducted in 2017, there are 1,976 elephants in Odisha.
While only 20 elephant deaths were reported in 2000-01, the death toll reached 77 in 2020-21. In 2021-22, the state reported 74 elephant deaths due to different reasons.
PTI
