Lok Sabha Question No. 4358 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-19
Subject: Elephant Menace
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Naba (Hira) Kumar Sarania, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4358 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2019

## Elephant Menace

## 4358.  SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA:

## SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK:

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

- (a) whether the wildlife elephants have wrecked havoc for the people in Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka, as they have ruined most of the villages and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the number of the farming areas, houses destroyed and persons killed by the wild elephants and bisons during the last three years in the said States;
- (c) whether the Government has provided any compensation to the people whose houses have been destroyed and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  any  foreign  assistance  has  been  received  to  solve  the  problems  created  by elephants in Assam and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) whether the Government has taken any necessary steps in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

- (a) There  are  reports  of  some  incidences  of  human-elephant  conflicts  in  some  parts  of  the states.
- (b) The details of farming  areas, houses destroyed and persons killed by wild elephants and bisons during the last three years in the state of Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka is given in Annexure .
- (c) Yes sir.  The details of the compensation provided by the Government to the people whose houses have been destroyed is given below:

Rs. In Lakhs

| Year    | STATE   | STATE       | STATE     |
|---------|---------|-------------|-----------|
|         | Assam   | Maharashtra | Karnataka |
| 2016-17 | 222     | 103.49      | 709.65    |
| 2017-18 | 103.49  | 65.52       | 1370      |
| 2018-19 | 0       | 857.78      | 818.02    |

- (d) No sir.
- (e) The Government has taken following steps under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme 'Project Elephant' to mitigate elephant menace:
- 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.
- ii. Notification  of  the  critical  elephant  habitats  as  'Elephant  Reserves'  for  better management of wild elephants.
- iii. Construction/erecting of physical barriers, such as barbed wire fence, solar powered electric  fence,  bio-fencing  using  cactus,  bee-hive  fencing,  elephant  proof  trenches, boundary wall etc. to prevent entry of wild animals into crop field.
- iv. All the elephant states have been directed to implement  the Guidelines for Management of Human Elephant Conflict issued by the Ministry on 6.10.2017.
- v. Works like creation of water sources, plantation of fruiting trees, pasture development,  fire  protection  etc.  are  being  done  to  enrich  elephant  habitat.    The Ministry is implementing a scheme from the Compensatory Afforestation Funds to Augment Fodder and water in Protected Areas for increasing the availability of forage and water for herbivores within Protected areas so that animal can be retained within their habitats.
- vi. Regular and extensive patrolling of elephant areas by frontline filed staff of the State Forest Departments is done so that elephants can be retained in their habitat.
- vii. To  reduce  man-elephant  conflict  and  to  avoid  retaliatory  killing  of  elephants, compensation  is  provided  to  local  communities  for  loss  of  their  property  and  life caused by wild elephants.
- viii. Forest  Department  is  engaging  local  communities  as  animal  trackers  to  know  the movement of elephants and also to caution local people to avoid man-animal conflict and to prevent the elephant to their natural habitat.
- ix. 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.

***

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4358 RAISED BY SHRI NABA KUMAR SARANIA AND SHRI  SANJAY  SADASHIV  RAO  MANDLIK  REGARDING  'ELEPHANT  MENACE' DUE FOR REPLY ON 19.07.2019.

## Details of farming areas, houses destroyed and persons killed by wild elephants and bisons during the last three years in the state of Assam, Maharashtra and Karnataka

| Year    | ASSAM                   | ASSAM                    | ASSAM          |
|---------|-------------------------|--------------------------|----------------|
|         | Farming areas destroyed | Nos. of Houses destroyed | Persons killed |
| 2016-17 | 767.26 Ha.              | 1752 Nos.                | 136            |
| 2017-18 | 313.73 Ha.              | 1021 Nos.                | 83             |
| 2018-19 | 754.89 Ha.              | 2034 Nos.                | 86             |

| Year    | Maharashtra                                        | Maharashtra    |
|---------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------|
|         | Nos. of cases of house and farming areas destroyed | Persons killed |
| 2016-17 | 4321 Nos.                                          | 2              |
| 2017-18 | 4052 Nos.                                          | 0              |
| 2018-19 | 4869 Nos.                                          | 1              |

| Year    | Karnataka                    | Karnataka                      | Karnataka      |
|---------|------------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------|
|         | Nos. of cases of crop damage | Nos. of cases of property loss | Persons killed |
| 2016-17 | 18985 Nos.                   | 81 Nos.                        | 38             |
| 2017-18 | 27,525 Nos.                  | 159 Nos.                       | 23             |
| 2018-19 | 19,913 Nos.                  | 126 Nos.                       | 13             |