News: The recent deaths of Elephants in Tamil Nadu and Assam in train collisions has again highlighted the gaps in efforts to reduce man-animal conflicts in the country.
Of the 29,964 elephants in India, the majority are in the southern region.
What are the reasons behind it?
Project Elephant division (MoEF&CC) reported unnatural killing of 1,160 elephants over 11 years ending December 2020.
Railway accidents accounted for 186 cases. C&AG in its latest compliance audit report on the Ministry of Railways has confirmed greater number of casualties getting reported are in elephant passages.
Other causes being poaching for 169 and poisoning for 64 cases of deaths out of 1160.
What is the way forward?
To prevent electrocution – Installing hanging solar-powered fences, as has been planned in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, can help save elephants from electric shock.
-The authorities should ensure that there are no illegal electric fences or barbed wire fences. Instead, it can be replaced with the solar-powered ones.
Preventing train hits – Planting ‘citronella’ and ‘lemon grass’, as done in Golaghat district (Assam), to deter elephants.
Participation of local communities is crucial for conservation of local ecosystem. Everyone, and especially those living close to elephant corridor, must be conveyed the critical role elephants play in biodiversity conservation.
Eco-corridor: The ministries of Railway, & Environment Ministry must cooperate to quickly complete projects of elevated-passes (Eco-corridor) and under-passes for safe wildlife crossings.
– C&AG reported that after the construction of underpasses and overpasses in the areas of East Central and Northeast Frontier Railways, there was no death reported.
The authorities should also work upon other recommendations made by the C&AG. These are:
– Periodic review of identification of elephant passages
– More sensitisation programmes for railway staff
– Standardisation of track signage
– Installation of an animal detection system (transmitter collars) and ‘honey bee’ sound-emitting devices near all identified elephant passages.
Source: This post is based on the article “Corridors of death” published in The Hindu on 4th Dec 2021.
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