Lok Sabha Question No. 1314 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-11
Subject: Gajah Report
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Pradyut Bordoloi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1314

TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2023

## Gajah Report

## 1314.   SHRI PRADYUT BORDOLOI:

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

- (a) whether the Government has taken any steps on the recommendations of the Elephant Task Force Report (Gajah Report) submitted in 2010 and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has decided to set up a National Elephant Conservation Authority and  implement  Project  Elephant  on  the  lines  of  existing  National  Tiger  Conservation Authority and Project Tiger;
- (c) the  status  of  eco-sensitive  zones  and  'no-go'  zones  in  elephant  reserves,  along  with measures taken to protect elephant habitats from potential threats posed by infrastructural projects;
- (d) the budget allocation and utilisation for elephant conservation and protection including a breakdown of expenditures for various conservation activities;
- (e) total  number  of  elephants  kept  in  human  captivity  State-wise  apart  from  the  zoological parks in the country, State-wise; and
- (f) the number of elephants who died of electrocution during the last five years?

## ANSWER

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

## CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a)&(b)  The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  taken  steps  on  the recommendations of the Elephant Task Force report, 2010 'Gajah'.  The constitution of National Elephant Conservation Authority (NECA), in line with existing National Tiger Conservation  Authority  (NTCA),  was  discussed  during  the  74 th Meeting  of  Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife (SC NBWL) and it was decided that there is no need for the constitution of NECA consequent to the merger of both the Centrally Sponsored  Scheme  namely  Project  Tiger  (PT)  and  Project  Elephant  (PE)  as  Project Tiger & Elephant (PT&E) for resource maximization and also due to creation of a new

division called 'Project Tiger &  Elephant (PT&E)  Division' to strengthen the functioning and execution of both the projects in synergy.

- (c) 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.  These Elephant Reserves overlap with  Tiger  Reserves,  Wildlife  Sanctuaries  and  Reserved  Forests  which  are  protected under Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, Indian Forest Act, 1927 and other State local Acts. The activities related to infrastructure development projects are regulated as per the existing Acts, Rules and Guidelines.
- (d)to(f)  The  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  is  providing  financial  and technical assistance to States/UTs under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes Project Tiger & Elephant for protection of elephants, their habitat and corridors, to address issues of man-elephant conflict and welfare of captive elephants in the country.  Details of the budget allocated and utilized for the above said activities are given in Annexure-I .  The details  of  the  captive  elephants  in  the  country  apart  from  zoological  parks,  as  on January, 2019 and details of elephant casualties due to electrocution between 2018-19 to 2022-23,  as  reported  by  the  states,  are  given  in Annexure-II  and  Annexure-III respectively.

***

## ANNEXURE -I

## REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.1314  RAISED  BY  SHRI  PRADYUT  BORDOLOI  REGARDING 'GAJAH REPORT' DUE FOR REPLY ON 11.12.2023.

## Budget allocated and released under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme -Project Tiger & Elephant

(Rs. in crores)

| Year     |   Budget Estimate |   Revised Estimate | Expenditure              |
|----------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------------|
| 2020-21  |              35   |              25    | 24.96                    |
| 2021-22  |              33   |              32    | 30.26                    |
| 2022-23  |              35   |              16.36 | 16.30                    |
| 2023-24* |             336.8 |             245    | 75.70 (as on 06.12.2023) |

* The Project Tiger and Project Elephant Scheme has been merged from FY 2023-24 and now known as Project Tiger & Elephant.

ANNEXURE -II

REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.1314  RAISED  BY  SHRI  PRADYUT  BORDOLOI  REGARDING 'GAJAH REPORT' DUE FOR REPLY ON 11.12.2023.

Captive Elephant Population in the country

| S.No.   | State                   |   Elephant in Private Custody |
|---------|-------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 1.      | Haryana                 |                             1 |
| 2.      | Delhi                   |                             4 |
| 3.      | Kerala                  |                           518 |
| 4.      | West Bengal             |                           100 |
| 5.      | Tamil Nadu              |                           135 |
| 6.      | Odisha                  |                            13 |
| 7.      | Uttar Pradesh           |                            98 |
| 8.      | Karnataka               |                           146 |
| 9.      | Rajasthan               |                           113 |
| 10.     | Jharkhand               |                            10 |
| 11.     | Assam                   |                           902 |
| 12.     | Puducherry              |                             2 |
| 13.     | Bihar                   |                            64 |
| 14.     | Meghalaya               |                             8 |
| 15.     | Punjab                  |                            16 |
| 16.     | Dadra &Nagar Haveli     |                             0 |
| 17.     | Chandigarh              |                             0 |
| 18.     | Lakshadweep             |                             0 |
| 19.     | Maharashtra             |                            11 |
| 20.     | Manipur                 |                             0 |
| 21.     | Goa                     |                            10 |
| 22.     | Andhra Pradesh          |                             0 |
| 23.     | Tripura                 |                            64 |
| 24.     | Andaman &Nicobar Island |                            63 |
| 25.     | Chhattisgarh            |                             9 |
| 26.     | Gujarat                 |                            52 |
| 27.     | Uttarakhand             |                            28 |
| 28.     | Madhya Pradesh          |                            98 |
| 29.     | Arunachal Pradesh       |                           109 |
| 30.     | Nagaland                |                            15 |
| Total   | Total                   |                          2589 |

ANNEXURE -III

REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.1314  RAISED  BY  SHRI  PRADYUT  BORDOLOI  REGARDING 'GAJAH REPORT' DUE FOR REPLY ON 11.12.2023.

Elephant Casualties due to Electrocution during the last five years

| S.No.   | State             | 2018-19   |   2019-20 | 2020-21   | 2021-22   |   2022-23 |
|---------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    | 2         |         5 | 1         | NR        |         5 |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh | 0         |         0 | 0         | NR        |         1 |
| 3       | Assam             | 9         |        11 | 13        | 12        |         8 |
| 4       | Chhattisgarh      | 6         |         2 | 7         | 4         |         9 |
| 5       | Jharkhand         | 1         |         5 | 5         | 4         |         6 |
| 6       | Karnataka         | 9         |         8 | 9         | 7         |        15 |
| 7       | Kerala            | 6         |         4 | 2         | 6         |         7 |
| 8       | Maharashtra       | 0         |         0 | NR        | 0         |         0 |
| 9       | Meghalaya         | 0         |         5 | 0         | 1         |         1 |
| 10      | Nagaland          | 4         |         2 | 1         | 1         |         0 |
| 11      | Odisha            | 24        |         9 | 8         | 13        |        26 |
| 12      | Tamil Nadu        | 10        |        15 | 9         | 5         |        14 |
| 13      | Tripura           | NR        |         0 | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 14      | Uttar Pradesh     | 3         |         3 | 0         | 2         |         0 |
| 15      | Uttarakhand       | 3         |         2 | NR        | NR        |         3 |
| 16      | West Bengal       | 4         |         5 | 10        | 2         |         5 |
|         |                   | 81        |        76 | 65        | 57        |       100 |

*NR- Information not received from State.