Assam: To Prevent Jumbo Deaths From Lightning, 9 Elephant Corridors To Come Up In Kaziranga
Following the shocking death of 18 elephants in Assam's Nagaon district last month after the herd was struck by lightning, the government has announced that nine corridors will be created in the state to facilitate their movement.
The nine elephant corridors will be created in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
What the committee discussed
"The committee after making assessment will place its interim report after 15 days and the final report within another fortnight. The meeting discussed threadbare about the proposed nine identified elephant corridors as well as creation of eco sensitive zones in KNP & TR to provide safe passage to the pachyderms and to ward off man-elephant conflicts. The new additional areas of the park together with reserved forests will come under a single integrated entity," an official said.
An official statement said that the Supreme Court acting on an application by animal activist Rohit Choudhury, in April 2019, had "restrained" all mining activities along the southern boundary of KNP & TR and in the entire catchment area of rivers and streams and rivulets originating in Karbi Anglong hill ranges and flowing into the park.
"No new construction shall be permitted on private lands which form part of the nine identified animal corridors," the apex court order stated. The statement said that the Environment and Forest department had submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court on the nine identified elephant corridors with geo coordinates.
The Supreme Court had asked the department to issue notification of the identified corridors. At least 18 wild elephants including calves were died on May 12 night in the mountainous Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest (PRF) in Nagaon district of central Assam after being struck by a "massive lightning bolt.
Though elephants getting killed from lightning is not uncommon, the sheer scale of the deaths had sent shockwaves in Assam and beyond.?
According to the latest census, India is home to 27,312 elephants and of them, Assam is home to an estimated 5,719, many of whom constantly come out of the forests in search of food.
