Lok Sabha Question No. 1283 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-12-22
Subject: Development Projects near Wildlife Habitats
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN, NABA KUMAR SARANIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1283

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.12.2017

## Development Projects near Wildlife Habitats

## 1283.   SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN:

SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the number of elephants recorded as per All India Elephant Population Estimation 2017 in various geographical regions of the country, State/UT-wise and region-wise along with its comparison with the last census estimate of 2012;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  taken  cognizance  of  the  fact  that  due  to  shrinkage, fragmentation  and  deterioration  of  habitats  of  wild  animals,  human-wildlife  conflict including man-elephant have increased recently;
- (c) if so, the details thereof indicating the number of such conflicts reported and number of persons and animals killed therein, State/UT-wise including Assam;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  issued  any  instruction  for  the  execution  of  development projects near wildlife habitats to have minimal impact on ecology and wildlife, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) whether any proposal has been received from the States to deal with such problems and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  measures  taken  or  policy  of  the  Government  to  tackle  this  growing  problem  of conflict along with the funds allocated/released to the States/UTs for the persons killed therein during each of the last three years and the current year, State/ UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

- (a) Census of elephant is undertaken at the national level once in every five  years. State-wise/UTs  wise  and  region  wise  comparative    estimated  population  of elephants of 2012 and 2017 as available in the Ministry are given in Annexure -I
- (b& c) Yes,  Sir.  Human-Wildlife  Conflict  (HWC)  has  been  increasing  at  local  and regional  scales  in  the  country  in  recent  decades.  Such  conflicts  include  loss  of crops, livestock depredation, loss to property, transmission of diseases by wildlife to people and livestock; and loss of human lives both indirectly and directly.  The primary causes of HWC include the loss, degradation and fragmentation of many wildlife  habitats,  thereby  increasing  the  chances  of  including  Asian  elephants ( Elephas maximus )  and  many  other  wild  animals  moving  out  of  natural  habitat and encountering cultivation and people. The number of conflicts is not collated

in the Ministry. However, state wise  details of human causality/death during last three year from elephant attacks is given in Annexure II (a) , loss of human lives because of tiger attacks during the last three years and current year, in and around tiger reserves, as reported by state-wise is given in Annexure II (b),  the casualties of elephants during 2015-2017 is given in Annexure II (c), the number of tigers which  have  died  due  to  unnatural  causes  (including  seizures),  during  last  two years and the current year, is given in Annexure II (d) .

- (d )&(e) The  Standing  Committee  of  National  Board  for  Wildlife  recommends  the development projects with the conditions and mitigation measures imposed by the State Chief Wildlife Warden to minimize the impact on ecology and wildlife.
- (f) State Governments provide relief from their own funds as well from the assistance provided by Central Government for ex-gratia relief in respect of damage to crops and loss of human lives suffered by the victims of depredations/attacks by wild animals. The details of amount paid as compensation and details of beneficiaries are  not  collated  in  the  Ministry.  The  Central  Government  provides  financial assistance  to  the  States/  Union  Territory  Governments  under  the  Centrally Sponsored  Schemes  of  'Integrated  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats',  'Project Tiger' and 'Project Elephant', inter alia, to make payment of ex-gratia relief.  The amount  of ex-gratia relief  eligible  for  assistance  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored Schemes for payment to the victims of predation/depredation by wild animals, is as follows:

| Sl. No.   | Nature of damage caused by wild animals   | Amount of ex-gratia relief                             |
|-----------|-------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| (a)       | Death or permanent incapacitation         | Rs. 2,00,000/-                                         |
| (b)       | Grievous injury                           | 30% of (a)                                             |
| (c)       | Minor injury                              | Cost of treatment                                      |
| (d)       | Loss of property                          | Value of loss/damage as assessed by authorized officer |

Besides,  the  Central  Government  provides  financial  assistance  to  State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes as mentioned at (c) above for management of wildlife and its habitats in the country. The activities supported under the Schemes inter alia include construction /erection of physical barriers,  such  as  barbed  wire  fence,  solar  powered  electric  fence,  bio-fencing using cactus, boundary walls etc. to prevent the entry of wild animals into crop fields;  improvement  of  wildlife  habitat  of  wild  animals  by  augmenting  the availability of food and water in forest areas to reduce the entry of animals from forests  to  habitations  and  setting  up  of  anti-depredation  squads  to  drive  away problematic animals.

## Annexure-I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (A)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  1283  REGARDING  'DEVELOPMENT  PROJECTS  NEAR  WILDLIFE HABITATS' BY SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN AND SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA DUE FOR REPLY ON 22.12.2017.

## Population of Wild Elephants in India, 2012-2017

| REGION              | STATE                      | ELEPHANT POPULATION   | ELEPHANT POPULATION   |
|---------------------|----------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|
|                     |                            | 2012                  | 2017                  |
| North-East          | Arunachal Pradesh          | 890                   | 1614                  |
|                     | Assam                      | 5620                  | 5719                  |
|                     | Meghalaya                  | *1811                 | 1754                  |
|                     | Tripura                    | 59                    | 102                   |
|                     | Nagaland                   | 212                   | 446                   |
|                     | West Bengal (North Region) | 647                   | 488                   |
|                     | Manipur                    | -                     | 9                     |
|                     | Mizoram                    | -                     | 7                     |
|                     |                            | 9239                  | 10,139                |
| East Central Region | Odisha                     | 1930                  | 1976                  |
|                     | Jharkhand                  | 688                   | 679                   |
|                     | Chhattisgarh               | 247                   | 247                   |
|                     | Bihar                      | -                     | 25                    |
|                     | Madhya Pradesh             | -                     | 7                     |
|                     | West Bengal (South Region) | #                     | 194                   |
|                     |                            | 2865                  | 3128                  |
| North West Region   | Uttarakhand                | *1346                 | 1839                  |
|                     | Uttar Pradesh              | 291                   | 232                   |
|                     | Haryana                    | -                     | 7                     |
|                     | Himachal                   | -                     | 7                     |
|                     |                            | 1637                  | 2085                  |
| South Region        | Karnataka                  | 5648-6488             | 6049                  |
|                     | Kerala                     | 5942-6422             | 3054                  |
|                     | Maharashtra                | 4                     | 6                     |
|                     | Andhra Pradesh             | 41                    | 65                    |
|                     | Andaman &Nicobar Islands   |                       | 19                    |
|                     | Tamil Nadu                 | 4015                  | 2761                  |
|                     |                            | 15650-16970           | 11960                 |
| GRANDTOTAL          | GRANDTOTAL                 | 29391-30711           | 27312                 |

## ANNEXURE-II(a)

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (B)  AND  (C)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1283  REGARDING  'DEVELOPMENT  PROJECTS  NEAR WILDLIFE HABITATS' BY SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN  AND  SHRI  NABA  KUMAR  SARANIA  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 22.12.2017.

State-wise details of human casualty/ death during last three year as reported by Project Elephant Division

| State             | 2013-14                  | 2014-15                  | 2015-16                  |
|-------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh    | 2                        | 2                        | NR                       |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 7                        | 1                        | 1                        |
| Assam             | 87                       | 54                       | 92                       |
| Chhattisgarh      | 23                       | 32                       | NR                       |
| Jharkhand         | 56                       | 53                       | 66                       |
| Karnataka         | 33                       | 38                       | 26                       |
| Kerala            | 7                        | 20                       | 6*                       |
| Maharashtra       | 0                        | 3                        | 0                        |
| Meghalaya         | 10                       | 3                        | 9                        |
| Nagaland          | 0                        | 1                        | 1                        |
| Odisha            | 67                       | 64                       | 63                       |
| Tamil Nadu        | 52                       | 31                       | 47                       |
| Tripura           | 0                        | 1                        | NR                       |
| Uttar Pradesh     | Information not received | Information not received | Information not received |
| Uttarakhand       | Information not received | Information not received | Information not received |
| West Bengal       | 69                       | 89                       | 108                      |
| TOTAL             | 413                      | 392                      | 419                      |

## Annexure-II(b)

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (B)  AND  (C)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1283  REGARDING  'DEVELOPMENT  PROJECTS  NEAR WILDLIFE HABITATS' BY SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN  AND  SHRI  NABA  KUMAR  SARANIA  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 22.12.2017.

Details of incidents of loss of human lives because of tiger attack during the last three years and current year, in and around tiger reserves, as reported by States, State-wise

| S. No.   | State             |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |   2016-17 |
|----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 3        | Assam             |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 4        | Bihar             |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 6        | Jammu &Kashmir    |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 7        | Jharkhand         |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 8        | Karnataka         |         5 |         4 |         2 |         0 |
| 9        | Kerala            |         0 |         1 |         1 |         0 |
| 10       | Madhya Pradesh    |         2 |         6 |         6 |         3 |
| 11       | Maharashtra       |         3 |         8 |         0 |         3 |
| 12       | Mizoram           |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 13       | Odisha            |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 14       | Rajasthan         |         0 |         0 |         1 |         0 |
| 15       | Tamil Nadu        |         3 |         1 |         1 |         0 |
| 16       | Telangana         |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |
| 17       | Uttar Pradesh     |         8 |         0 |         1 |         4 |
| 18       | Uttarakhand       |         4 |         0 |         1 |         1 |
| 19       | West Bengal       |         9 |        14 |        18 |         0 |
|          | TOTAL             |        36 |        34 |        31 |        11 |

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (B) AND (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1283 REGARDING 'DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS NEAR WILDLIFE HABITATS' BY SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN AND SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA DUE FOR REPLY ON 22.12.2017.

## ELEPHANT CASUALTIES 2015-2017

| S. No.   | State             | 2015-16   | 2016-17   | 2017-18 (upto November, 2017)   |
|----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|---------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | NR        | NR        | NR                              |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 0         | NR        | NR                              |
| 3        | Assam             | 9         | 22        | 17                              |
| 4        | Chhattisgarh      | 5         | 3         | NR                              |
| 5        | Jharkhand         | 2         | 2         | 2                               |
| 6        | Karnataka         | 3         | NR        | NR                              |
| 7        | Kerala            | NR        | 2         | NR                              |
| 8        | Maharashtra       | 0         | 0         | NR                              |
| 9        | Meghalaya         | 1         | NR        | NR                              |
| 10       | Nagaland          | 4         | 2         | NR                              |
| 11       | Odisha            | 17        | 8         | 9                               |
| 12       | Tamil Nadu        | 7         | 9         | 3                               |
| 13       | Tripura           | 0         | 0         | NR                              |
| 14       | Uttar Pradesh     | 0         | 3         | 0                               |
| 15       | Uttarakhand       | 1         | 6         | 2                               |
| 16       | West Bengal       | 21        | 13        | 3                               |
|          | Total             | 70        | 70        | 36                              |

NR-Not Received

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (B) AND (C) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1283 REGARDING 'DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS NEAR WILDLIFE HABITATS' BY SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SHRI A. ARUNMOZHITHEVAN AND SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA DUE FOR REPLY ON 22.12.2017.

## Number of tigers which have died due to unnatural causes (including seizures), during last two years and the current year,

| State          | 2015   | 2016   | 2017   |   Total |
|----------------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
| Assam          | 1      | 4      | 7      |      12 |
| Bihar          | -      | 4      | -      |       4 |
| Chhattisgarh   | 1      | 2      | 2      |       5 |
| Delhi          | -      | 2      | -      |       2 |
| Karnataka      | 4      | 3      | 1      |       8 |
| Kerala         | -      | 1      | -      |       1 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 6      | 7      | 5      |      18 |
| Maharashtra    | 1      | 2      | 5      |       8 |
| Nagaland       | -      | 1      | -      |       1 |
| Odisha         | 1      | -      | -      |       1 |
| Tamil Nadu     | 1      | 1      | 1      |       3 |
| Telangana      | -      | 1      | -      |       1 |
| Uttar Pradesh  | 4      | 1      | 1      |       6 |
| Uttarakhand    | 2      | 6      | 2      |      10 |
| West Bengal    | -      | 1      | -      |       1 |
| TOTAL          | 21     | 36     | 24     |      81 |