Lok Sabha Question No. 3169 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-20
Subject: Death of Elephants
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Jai Prakash, Aparajita Sarangi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3169

TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.03.2023

## Death of Elephants

## 3169.   SHRI JAI PRAKASH: SHRIMATI  APARAJITA  SARANGI

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

- (a) whether it is a fact that Odisha has lost as many as 245 elephants in three years after they have fallen prey to the poachers during the period;
- (b) if  so,  whether  the  Government has sought any report in this  regard  from  the State Government;
- (c) whether the Government is contemplating to direct the State Government to be more cautious in this regard;
- (d) if so, the details of the response, if any, received from the Odisha Government;
- (e) the  details  of  number  of  elephants  that  have  died  due  to  accident  in  the  country during last five years;
- (f) the details of number of elephants died in Odisha, district-wise;
- (g) whether the Government has conducted any enquiry to reduce the elephant death due to accident, if so, the details thereof;
- (h) the details of loss of property and life occurred due to wild elephants and the steps taken by Government to reduce man-animal conflict; and
- (i) the details of steps taken by the Government to reduce man-animal conflict?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) As per the information received from the State of Odisha, only six (6) cases of elephant deaths,  due  to  poaching,  have  been  reported  in  the  State,  during  the  last  three  years (2019-20 to 2021-22).
- (b) to(d) Reports are sought from State Governments on case to case basis. Further, to inspect the recent death of elephants in the State of Jharkhand and Odisha a High Level committee was  constituted  by  the  Ministry  to  enquire  the  deaths  and  action  taken  by  the  State Forest Department.  The High Level committee submitted its report to the Ministry with various  recommendations  for  managing  the  problem  and  reducing  the  deaths  of

elephants in the state of Jharkhand and Odisha.  The recommendations were forwarded to the State of Odisha  for taking necessary action for  implementation of the recommendations suggested by the High Level committee.

- (e) The  State-wise  details  of  elephant  casualties  due  to  train  accident  during  the  last  five years, as per the information received from States, are enclosed as Annexure -I .
- (f) District-wise data of elephant deaths in the State Odisha, as per the information received from the State, are enclosed as Annexure-II .
- (g) The Ministry had constituted a committee to review the deaths of elephants due to train hit in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala in compliance of Hon'ble NGT direction dated 8th July, 2021. The Committee submitted its report to the Ministry in September 2021 suggesting recommendations to be taken up by Railways, State Forest Departments (SFDs) of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to prevent death of elephants due to train hits. The report submitted by the committee  has been circulated to the SFDs,  Railways  and  other concerned stakeholders to take appropriate measures to prevent death of elephants due to train hits.
- (h)&(i)  The details of loss of property occurred due to wild elephants attack is not collated in the Ministry.  The State-wise details of human casualties due to elephant attack during the last five years, as per the information received from States, are enclosed as Annexure III. The  management  of  wildlife  including  mitigation  and  management  of  humanelephant  conflict  (HEC)  is  primarily  the  responsibility  of  State  Governments/UTs Administration.    The  state  forest  departments  are  working  with  the  local  people  to address  the  HEC  issues  through  periodic  awareness  campaigns  to  sensitize,  guide  and advise the general public on man-animal conflict, including dissemination of information through  various  forms  of  media.    Further,  Forest  Departments  are  engaging  with  local communities as animal trackers to monitor the movement of elephants and also to caution local people to avoid human-animal conflict, prevent damage or loss of human life and elephants.

In  addition,  the  following  measures  taken  by  Ministry  also  help  in  mitigation  of human-animal conflict:-

- (i) The  Central  Government  provides  financial  assistance  to  State/Union  Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes 'Development of Wildlife Habitats, 'Project Tiger' and 'Project Elephant' for management of wildlife and its habitat in the country.
- (ii) 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.  The  Ministry  has  notified  enhancement  of  ex-gratia rates related to wildlife depredation vide letter No. 14-2/2011 WL-I (part) dated 9th February, 2018.
- (iii) Various other Centrally Sponsored schemes being implemented by this Ministry contribute to the improvement in the natural habitat of elephants by augmenting water  sources,  planting  of  fodder  trees,  regeneration  of  bamboo  etc.    Such
- schemes  include  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitat  and  Project  Tiger.    The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016 and the Rules made there under also provide  for  use  of  the  Fund  for  development  of  wildlife  habitats,  including  for elephants,  establishment  of  animal  rescue  centres,  etc.  which  also  contribute  to reduction in HEC.
- (iv) A guideline for Management of Human Elephant Conflict has been issued by the Ministry  on  6.10.2017  and  elephant  range  states have  been  requested  for implementation of the same.
- (v) An  advisory  on  dealing  with  human-wildlife  conflict  has  been  issued  by  the Ministry in February 2021. The advisory recommends coordinated interdepartmental action, identification of conflict hot spots, adherence to Standard Operating Procedures, establishment of rapid response teams, formation of  State  and  District  level  committees  to review the quantum of ex-gratia relief, issuing guidance/instructions for expedited payments, and provision of adequate funds  for  suitable  portion  of  ex-gratia  relief  to  be  paid  within  24  hours  to  the affected persons in the case of death and injury to persons.
- (vi) The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also issued Guidelines to  States/UTs on  3 rd June,  2022 on  managing  Human  Wildlife conflicts including damage to crops. It includes promotion of crops in forest fringe areas which are unpalatable to wild animals, agro forestry models which include cash  crops  like chillies,  lemon  grass,  khus  grass  etc.  suitably  mixed  with tree/shrub species. It also includes preparation and implementation of comprehensive long-term plan for alternate cropping by the state Agriculture/Horticulture Department under different schemes in vulnerable areas.
- (vii) Critical elephant habitats are notified as 'Elephant Reserve' for focus and synergy in  elephant  conservation  and  to  reduce  conflict.  The  notification  is  carried  out with  the  approval  of  Steering  Committee  formed  in  the  Ministry.    So  far  33 Elephant Reserves have been established in 14 major elephant States.
- (viii) A  field  manual  for  frontline  staff  to  manage  Human  Elephant  Conflict  was released during the 16 th meeting of the Steering Committee on 29 th April, 2022.
- (ix) The  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  provides  regulatory  functions  for  dealing with human wildlife conflict situations.
- (x) A  Capacity  Building  Workshop  for  Railway  Officials  Training  the  Trainers:  A special online training programme for sensitizing officials of the Indian Railways' Training Institutes towards India's wildlife and rich biodiversity was conducted on 19 th September, 2022.
- (xi) Regional coordination meeting for the Eastern Region to address Human-Elephant Conflict was conducted on 19 th January, 2023 at Kolkata.
- (xii) A  Capacity  Building  Workshop  on  'Minimizing  Railway-induced  Elephant Mortalities  for  the  Officers  of  the  Indian  Railways'  was  conducted  on  1 st -3 rd February, 2023.

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## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3169 RAISED BY SHRI JAI PRAKASH REGARDING 'DEATH OF ELEPHANTS' DUE FOR REPLY ON 20.03.2023.

Elephant Casualties due to Train Accidents

| S.No.   | State   | 2017-18   |   2018-19 | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2021-22       |
|---------|---------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------------|
| 1       | 10      | 2         |         2 | 5         | 8         | Assam         |
| 2       | 2       | 6         |         5 | 0         | 0         | West Bengal   |
| 3       | 0       | 0         |         0 | 1         | 3         | Tamil Nadu    |
| 4       | 0       | 0         |         1 | 1         | 0         | Jharkhand     |
| 5       | 0       | 1         |         3 | 0         | 0         | Kerala        |
| 6       | 2       | 7         |         1 | 4         | 3         | Odisha        |
| 7       | 0       | NR        |         0 | 0         | 0         | Tripura       |
| 8       | 5       | 1         |         2 | NR        | NR        | Uttarakhand   |
| 9       | 0       | 0         |         0 | 0         | 0         | Uttar Pradesh |
| 10      | 1       | 2         |         0 | 1         | 1         | Karnataka     |
| Total   | Total   | 20        |        19 | 14        | 12        | 15            |

*NR- Information not received from State.

## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (f)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3169 RAISED BY SHRI JAI PRAKASH REGARDING 'DEATH OF ELEPHANTS' DUE FOR REPLY ON 20.03.2023.

## Elephant deaths in Odisha from 2017-18 to 2021-22

| SL No.   | Name of District   |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   Total |
|----------|--------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------|
| 1        | Angul              |        10 |        10 |        11 |         6 |        12 |      49 |
| 2        | Balasore           |         1 |         3 |         2 |         4 |         4 |      14 |
| 3        | Bargarh            |         0 |         2 |         2 |         0 |         1 |       5 |
| 4        | BhadrakWL          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 5        | Bolangir           |         1 |         2 |         1 |         2 |         0 |       6 |
| 6        | Boudh              |         1 |         0 |         0 |         1 |         0 |       2 |
| 7        | Cuttack            |        11 |         9 |         2 |         3 |         7 |      32 |
| 8        | Deogarh            |         2 |         5 |         1 |         4 |         6 |      18 |
| 9        | Dhenkanal          |        19 |        17 |        16 |         6 |        13 |      71 |
| 10       | Gajapati           |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 11       | Ganjam             |         3 |         4 |         2 |         2 |         4 |      15 |
| 12       | Jajpur             |         0 |         2 |         1 |         1 |         0 |       4 |
| 13       | Jagatsinghpur      |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 14       | Jharsuguda         |         3 |         6 |         1 |         0 |         0 |      10 |
| 15       | Kalahandi          |         0 |         3 |         3 |         7 |         7 |      20 |
| 16       | Kandhamal          |         3 |         2 |         1 |         0 |         0 |       6 |
| 17       | Kendrapada         |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 18       | Kendujhar          |         5 |         6 |         8 |         8 |         9 |      36 |
| 19       | Khordha            |         1 |         0 |         6 |         4 |         2 |      13 |
| 20       | Koraput            |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 21       | Malkanagiri        |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 22       | Mayurbhanj         |         5 |        10 |         7 |        10 |         7 |      39 |
| 23       | Nabarangpur        |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 24       | Nayagarh           |         1 |         1 |         2 |         0 |         0 |       4 |
| 25       | Nuapada            |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 26       | Puri               |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       0 |
| 27       | Rayagada           |         1 |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |       2 |
| 28       | Sambalpur          |         4 |         1 |        10 |         7 |         8 |      30 |
| 29       | Subarnpur          |         0 |         0 |         2 |         2 |         2 |       6 |
| 30       | Sundargarh         |         7 |         9 |         4 |        10 |         4 |      34 |
|          | Total              |        78 |        93 |        82 |        77 |        86 |     416 |

ANNEXURE-III

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (h)&(i)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3169 RAISED BY SHRI JAI PRAKASH REGARDING 'DEATH OF ELEPHANTS' DUE FOR REPLY ON 20.03.2023.

Human casualties due to elephant attack

| S.No.          | State     | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1              | Pradesh 6 | 7         | 4         | 6         | NR        | Andhra    |
| 2 Arunachal    | NR        | 0         | 0         | 0         | 2         |           |
| 3 Assam        | 72        | 84        | 75        | 91        | 63        |           |
| 4 Chhattisgarh | 74        | 61        | 77        | 42        | 64        |           |
| 5              | 84        | 87        | 84        | 74        | 133       | Jharkhand |
| 6              | 22        | 12        | 29        | 23        | 17        | Karnataka |
| 7              | 15        | 27        | 12        | 20        | 25        | Kerala    |
| 8 Maharashtra  | 0         | 1         | 1         | NR        | 0         |           |
| 9 Meghalaya    | 7         | 3         | 4         | 6         | 3         |           |
| Nagaland       | 0         | 1         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 10        |
| Odisha         | 105       | 72        | 117       | 93        | 112       | 11        |
| 12 Tamil Nadu  | 49        | 47        | 58        | 57        | 37        |           |
| Tripura        | 0         | NR        | 2         | 1         | 2         | 13        |
| Uttar Pradesh  | 1         | 0         | 6         | 1         | 0         | 14        |
| Uttarakhand    | 5         | 3         | NR        | NR        | NR        | 15        |
| West Bengal    | 66        | 52        | 116       | 47        | 77        | 16        |
| Total          | 506       | 457       | 585       | 461       | 535       |           |

*NR- Information not received from State.