Lok Sabha Question No. 1128 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-07-29
Subject: Human-Elephant Conflict
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Dr. Jayanta Kumar Roy, Smt. Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1128 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2024

## Human-Elephant Conflict

## 1128.   DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SMT. SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

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

- (a) whether the Government has conducted any study to understand the causes of humanelephant conflict in the country especially in the States of West Bengal and Odisha;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has collected data on the deaths of humans as well as elephants due to such conflicts in the said States, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the  details  of  the  measures  aimed  at  mitigation  and  management  of  human-elephant conflict in the country including West Bengal and Odisha?

## ANSWER

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

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a)&(b) The Ministry has not conducted any study to understand the human-elephant conflict in the State of Odisha and West Bengal. However, as per information provided by the State  Governments/UTs  Administration,  the  following  studies  were  conducted  to understand  the  causes  of  human-elephant  conflict  and  the  damage  done  in  their respective areas:
-  As per the information  provided by the Government of Karnataka, a Karnataka Elephant Task Force was constituted which submitted its report in 2012.  The report highlighted the major causes of Human-Elephant Conflict due to fragmentation of habitats, habitat loss, change in cropping pattern etc.
-  Another study was conducted during 2019 on 'Assessment and prediction of spatial patterns of human-elephant conflicts in changing land cover scenarios of a humandominated  landscape  in  North  Bengal'  funded  by  the  National  Mission  on Himalayan Studies,  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  &  Climate  Change  on  the following: (a) spatial factors and landscape variables responsible for conflicts, (b) identify human activities which make them vulnerable to such incidents, (c) identify hotspots of conflicts, and (d) assess major land use/land cover changes.
- (c) & (d)  The State-wise details of human casualties due to elephant attack and elephant deaths due to various reasons like train hits, electrocution, poaching and poisoning, during the last five years, as per the information received from States, are enclosed as AnnexureI and Annexure- II respectively.

The management of wildlife including mitigation and management of human-elephant 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  human-animal  conflict  including  dissemination  of information through various forms of media.  Further, State Forest  Departments are engaging with local communities to monitor the movement of elephants and to caution local  people to avoid human-animal conflict, prevent damage or loss of human life, property and elephants.

In  addition,  Ministry  has  taken  the  following  measures  to  help  in  mitigation  of human-elephant conflict:-

- (i) The Ministry is providing financial and technical assistance to States/UTs under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  Project  Tiger  &  Elephant  for protection of elephants, their habitat and corridors, to address issues of manelephant conflict and welfare of captive elephants in the country.
- (ii) Other various Centrally Sponsored Schemes including Integrated Development  of  Wildlife  Habitat  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. 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.
- (iii) 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.
- (iv) 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.
- (v) The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun in consultation with the Ministry of Environment Forest, and 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' (2016) to assist project agencies in designing linear infrastructure, including  railways lines, in a manner that reduces humananimal conflicts.
- (vi) The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in coordination with  the  State  Forest  Departments,  have  ground-validated  150  elephant corridors across 15 elephant range states (i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,  Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland,  Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and  West  Bengal)  in  India  and  informed  the  State  Governments/UT Administrations to take necessary steps to protect and conserve the elephant corridors.
- (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 general advisory has been issued jointly by  Ministry of Railways  and Ministry of Environment and Forests on 30th March, 2010 to the General Managers of North Frontier (NF), East Cost and Southern Railways with a request to implement the suggested measures.
- (xi) Advisory on implementation of measures to mitigate the impact of power transmission  lines  and  other  power  infrastructure  on  elephant  and  other wildlife issued by Ministry of Power to all DISCOMs and TRANSCOs has been circulated to all States/UTS on 16 th September, 2022.
- (xii) Ministry also released a Guidelines for Human-Elephant Conflict Mitigation-Taking a Harmonious Coexistence Approach (2023) for addressing human-elephant conflicts.
- (xiii) 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. WL-21/4/2023 WL dated 22 nd  December, 2023, which includes increase in ex-gratia from ₹5lakh to ₹10 lakh in case of death by wild animals.
- (xiv) A  permanent  Co-ordination  Committee  has  been  constituted  between Ministry  of  Railways  and  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate Change for preventing elephant death in train accident.
- (xv) Inter-ministerial meeting convened regularly with the Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Power to holistically address the issue of accidental death of elephant due to train hit and electrocution.
- (xvi) A Capacity Building Workshop on 'Mainstreaming Management of The Elephant  Reserves'  was  conducted  on  13  -15 th March,  2023  at  Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
- (xvii) A Capacity Building Workshop on 'Minimizing the Impact of the Railway on Elephants and Other Wildlife' for the officials of Indian Railways was conducted  on  23-25 th November,  2023  at  Wildlife  Institute  of  India, Dehradun.
- (xviii) A Capacity Building Workshop on 'Mainstreaming Management of The Elephant Reserves was conducted on 28- 29 th November, 2023 at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.
- (xix) A  Capacity  Building  Workshop  on  'Exploring  solution  for  minimizing electrocution risk and promoting wildlife safety across power infrastructure in India' was conducted on 11- 13 th January, 2024 at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

******

ANNEXURE-I REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  1128  RAISED  BY  DR.  JAYANTA  KUMAR  ROY  AND  SMT.  SANGEETA  KUMARI SINGH  DEO  REGARDING  'HUMAN-  ELEPHANT  CONFLICT'  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 29.07.2024.

Human Casualties Due to Elephant

| S.No.          | State     | 2019-20   | 2020-21   |   2021-22 |   2022-23 | 2023-24        |
|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------------|
| 1              | 4         | 6         | NR        |         5 |         6 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 2 Arunachal    | Pradesh 0 | 0         | 2         |         0 |         0 |                |
| 3 Assam        | 75        | 91        | 63        |        80 |        74 |                |
| 4 Chhattisgarh | 77        | 42        | 64        |        69 |        51 |                |
| Jharkhand      | 84        | 74        | 133       |        96 |        87 | 5              |
| 6              | 30        | 26        | 27        |        29 |        48 | Karnataka      |
| 7              | 12        | 20        | 25        |        22 |        23 | Kerala         |
| Maharashtra    | 1         | NR        | 0         |         2 |         5 | 8              |
| Meghalaya      | 4         | 6         | 3         |         3 |         7 | 9              |
| Nagaland       | 0         | 0         | 0         |         1 |         1 | 10             |
| Odisha         | 117       | 93        | 112       |       148 |       154 | 11             |
| Tamil Nadu     | 58        | 57        | 37        |        43 |        61 | 12             |
| Tripura        | 2         | 1         | 2         |         2 |         1 | 13             |
| Uttar Pradesh  | 6         | 1         | 0         |         4 |         4 | 14             |
| Uttarakhand    | NR        | NR        | NR        |         4 |         8 | 15             |
| West Bengal    | 116       | 47        | 77        |        97 |        99 | 16             |
| Total          |           | 586       | 464       |       545 |       605 | 629            |

*  NR- Information not received from State.

ANNEXURE-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  1128  RAISED  BY  DR.  JAYANTA  KUMAR  ROY  AND  SMT.  SANGEETA  KUMARI SINGH  DEO  REGARDING  'HUMAN-  ELEPHANT  CONFLICT'  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 29.07.2024.

## Elephant Casualties in Train Accidents

| S.No.   | State         |   2019-20 | 2020-21   | 2021-22   |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|---------|---------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1       | Assam         |         2 | 5         | 8         |         7 |         2 |
| 2       | West Bengal   |         5 | 0         | 0         |         1 |         4 |
| 3       | Tamil Nadu    |         0 | 1         | 3         |         0 |         0 |
| 4       | Jharkhand     |         1 | 1         | 0         |         1 |         1 |
| 5       | Kerala        |         3 | 0         | 0         |         2 |         0 |
| 6       | Odisha        |         1 | 4         | 3         |         3 |         5 |
| 7       | Tripura       |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         1 |
| 8       | Uttarakhand   |         2 | NR        | NR        |         1 |         4 |
| 9       | Uttar Pradesh |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 10      | Karnataka     |         0 | 1         | 1         |         0 |         0 |
|         | Total         |        14 | 12        | 15        |        15 |        17 |

*  NR- Information not received from State.

REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  1128  RAISED  BY  DR.  JAYANTA  KUMAR  ROY  AND  SMT.  SANGEETA  KUMARI SINGH  DEO  REGARDING  'HUMAN-  ELEPHANT  CONFLICT'  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 29.07.2024.

## Elephant Casualties by Electrocution

| S.No.   | State   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   |   2021-22 | 2022-23   | 2023-24           |
|---------|---------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------------|
| 1       | 5       | 1         | NR        |         5 | 6         | Andhra Pradesh    |
| 2       | 0       | 0         | NR        |         1 | 0         | Arunachal Pradesh |
| 3       | 11      | 13        | 12        |         8 | 11        | Assam             |
| 4       | 2       | 7         | 4         |         9 | 10        | Chhattisgarh      |
| 5       | 5       | 5         | 4         |         6 | 10        | Jharkhand         |
| 6       | 8       | 9         | 7         |        15 | 13        | Karnataka         |
| 7       | 4       | 2         | 6         |         7 | 10        | Kerala            |
| 8       | 0       | NR        | 0         |         0 | 2         | Maharashtra       |
| 9       | 5       | 0         | 1         |         1 | 1         | Meghalaya         |
| 10      | 2       | 1         | 1         |         0 | 1         | Nagaland          |
| 11      | 9       | 8         | 13        |        26 | 15        | Odisha            |
| 12      | 15      | 9         | 5         |        14 | 6         | Tamil Nadu        |
| 13      | 0       | 0         | 0         |         0 | 0         | Tripura           |
| 14      | 3       | 0         | 2         |         0 | 1         | Uttar Pradesh     |
| 15      | 2       | NR        | NR        |         3 | 1         | Uttarakhand       |
| 16      |         | 5 10      | 2         |         5 | 7         | West Bengal       |
|         | Total   | 76 65     | 57        |       100 |           | 94                |

*  NR- Information not received from State.

REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  1128  RAISED  BY  DR.  JAYANTA  KUMAR  ROY  AND  SMT.  SANGEETA  KUMARI SINGH  DEO  REGARDING  'HUMAN-  ELEPHANT  CONFLICT'  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 29.07.2024.

## Elephant Casualties by Poaching

| S.No              | State     | 2019-20   | 2020-21   |   2021-22 |   2022-23 | 2023-24   |
|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1 Andhra          | Pradesh 0 | 0         | NR        |         0 |         0 |           |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0         | 0         | NR        |         0 |         0 | 2         |
| Assam             | 0         | 0         | 0         |         2 |         1 | 3         |
| Chhattisgarh      | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 4         |
| Jharkhand         | 1         | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 5         |
| Karnataka         | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 6         |
| Kerala            | 1         | 1         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 7         |
| Maharashtra       | 0         | NR        | 0         |         0 |         0 | 8         |
| Meghalaya         | 4         | 7         | 0         |         3 |         0 | 9         |
| Nagaland          | 0         | 2         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 10        |
| Odisha            | 3         | 2         | 1         |         8 |         3 | 11        |
| Tamil Nadu        | 0         | 2         | 3         |         1 |         4 | 12        |
| Tripura           | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 13        |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 | 14        |
| Uttarakhand       | 0         | NR        | NR        |         0 |         0 | 15        |
| West Bengal       | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |         1 | 16        |
| Total             | 9         | 14        | 4         |        14 |         9 |           |

*  NR- Information not received from State.

ANNEXURE-II REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (C) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.  1128  RAISED  BY  DR.  JAYANTA  KUMAR  ROY  AND  SMT.  SANGEETA  KUMARI SINGH  DEO  REGARDING  'HUMAN-  ELEPHANT  CONFLICT'  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 29.07.2024.

Elephant Casualties by Poisoning

| S.No.   | State             |   2019-20 | 2020-21   | 2021-22   |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|---------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    |         0 | 0         | NR        |         0 |         0 |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh |         0 | 0         | NR        |         0 |         0 |
| 3       | Assam             |         0 | 1         | 6         |         2 |         1 |
| 4       | Chhattisgarh      |         0 | 1         | 0         |         1 |         0 |
| 5       | Jharkhand         |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 6       | Karnataka         |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 7       | Kerala            |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 8       | Maharashtra       |         0 | NR        | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 9       | Meghalaya         |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 10      | Nagaland          |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 11      | Odisha            |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 12      | Tamil Nadu        |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 13      | Tripura           |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 14      | Uttar Pradesh     |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |         0 |
| 15      | Uttarakhand       |         0 | NR        | NR        |         0 |         0 |
| 16      | West Bengal       |         0 | 0         | 0         |         1 |         0 |
| Total   |                   |         0 | 2         | 6         |         4 |         1 |

*  NR- Information not received from State.

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