Lok Sabha Question No. 341 (STARRED), answered on 2018-08-10
Subject: Death of Elephants
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: JITENDRA CHAUDHURY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *341

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2018

## Death of Elephants

## *341.   SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY:

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

- (a) whether  as  many  as  140  elephants  have  died  unnaturally  in  Assam  during  the  years from 2013 to 2016 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Asian  elephants  of  Assam  have  been  declared  endangered  by  the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether increased deforestation and construction activities have destroyed the natural habitat of the animal and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a) to (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (d)  OF  THE  LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *341 REGARDING 'DEATH OF ELEPHANTS' DUE FOR REPLY ON 10.8.2018

- (a) As  per  the  information  received  from  the  state  of  Assam,  100  elephants  have  died unnaturally  during  the  year  of  2013  to  2016.    Details  of  the  unnatural  death  of elephants in the state of Assam are given below.
- (b) Asian elephants of Assam are not separately listed as Endangered.  However, since 1986, Asian Elephants have been listed as Endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red list.
- (c) It  is  a  fact  that  construction  activities,  deforestation,  have  adversely  affected  the natural habitat of elephants.  Fragmentation and Deforestation is severely affecting the animal including the elephants. The total estimated area under encroachment in the  notified  Reserve  Forest  and  Protected  Area  in  Assam  is  about  3555  Sq.  Km (13.29 % of the total notified area) have also affected the habitat of elephants by way of fragmentation.
- (d) Following corrective measures have been taken by the Government in this regard.
- i. Financial and technical assistance is provided to elephant  range states under the  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  'Project  Elephant',  to  protect  elephants, their  habitat  and  corridors,  to  address  issues  of  man-elephant  conflict  and welfare of captive elephants.  In addition financial assistance is provided to the State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of 'Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats' and Project Tiger, for providing better protection to wildlife including leopards and improvement of habitat.
- ii. Notification of the critical elephant habitats as 'Elephant Reserves' for better management  of  wild  elephants.    So  far  29  Elephant  Reserves  have  been established in 14 major elephant States.
- iii. To  improve  the  habitat  in  the  degraded  notified  areas  plantations  are  being raised as an ameliorative step.  As for example, in the northern landscape of Assam (which is mostly degraded) the following plantations have been raised since 2013-14.
- (a) 90 Ha under Sonitpur East Division.
- (b) 450 Ha under Sonitpur West Division.
- (c) 642 Ha under Lakhimpur Division.
- (d) 365 Ha under Dhemaji Division.
- iv. The  State  Government  of  Assam  constituted  co-ordination  committee  by involving  all  stakeholder,  Civil  and  Police  Administration,  Divisional  Forest Officers of Territorial and Wildlife Wing,  Block Development  Officer, Gaonburahs and Gram Panchyat Presidents, Village defence parties, representative  of  NGO's,  Head  Masters  of  Schools,  Stations  Masters  of Railway Stations, PWD (Roads), District Transport Officers etc.
- v. Elephant  is  listed  under  Schedule  I  of  the  Wildlife  Protection  Act,  1972,  to provide it highest degree of legal protection.
- vi. Wildlife  Institute  of  India  in  consultation  with  the  Ministry  of  Environment Forest &  Climate  Change,  National  Highway  Authority,  National  Tiger Conservation  Authority  and  World  Bank  Group  has  published  a  document namely ' Eco-friendly Measures to Mitigate Impacts of Linear Infrastructure' to  assist  the  project  agencies  of  linear  infrastructure  in  designing  the  linear infrastructure  in  a  manner  which  will  reduce  human-animal  conflicts  in  the areas  where  these  linear  infrastructures  are  passing  through  Protected  Areas and other wildlife areas.
- vii. Protected Areas, viz., National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves covering important wildlife habitats have been created all over the country under the provisions of Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to conserve  wild  animals  and  their  habitats.    Improvement  of  National  Parks, Wildlife Sanctuary, Critical habitat, including Elephant Reserves and Corridors is  carried  out  regularly  so  that  enough  food  and  shelter  is  available  for elephants.
- viii. In order to conserve the habitats, central and State Governments take various steps such as Afforestation, Reforestation and many  habitat restoration activities to prevent the death of animal and the human beings.

| Year   |   Number of unnatural deaths of elephants |
|--------|-------------------------------------------|
| 2013   |                                        23 |
| 2014   |                                        26 |
| 2015   |                                        20 |
| 2016   |                                        31 |
| Total  |                                       100 |