SHILLONG: Altogether 9622 cases of human-elephant conflict were registered with the Forest Department of Meghalaya which have resulted in death of 25 persons, injury to 22 persons and damage of crop in 4009 hectare of area, according to the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
An amount of Rs 4.41 crore was paid as ex-gratia to villagers for loss of life, damage to property and agricultural crop in these cases.
During a joint inspection by the audit team in the Shallang area which is under the proposed Khasi Hills Elephant Reserve, to assess the impact of human activities on wildlife habitat, it was observed that a natural salt lick in the area that was once a big gathering place for the elephants, had almost vanished due to construction activities and heaps of coal stock and rampant deforestation could be noticed all along the area.
A salt lick is a place where animals go to lick essential mineral nutrients from deposit of salts and other minerals.
The CAG report added that fresh coal stock was found lying/dumped in these forest areas which have reduced the food and water availability for wildlife.
The Range Officer (RO) Nongpoh stated that elephants were migrating from Garbangha Reserved Forest in Assam towards Nongkhyllem Reserved Forests of Meghalaya where habitations have come up in the forest fringes.
“The stone/limestone mining quarries, human settlements and plantations like rubber, broom etc., had affected migration path of elephants resulting in change in their routes and raiding human settlements for food and water,” the report stated.
The report mentioned that the Department of Forest and Environment in December 2017 stated that land falling within the proposed Khasi Hills Elephant Reserve (ER) is owned by private individuals and communities and that efforts were being made to obtain their consent for notification of ER.
“The reply is, however, silent regarding recent development in obtaining the consent as it was observed from the records that public meetings with the land owners/communities were last held in March 2009,” the report said.
Elephant corridors
The CAG report also referred to elephant corridors which are strips of land used by elephants to migrate from one habitat to the next, and it pointed out no corridor had been notified by the state government (November 2017).
“Audit observed that no dedicated survey for elephant corridors had been carried out by the department,” the report stated.
It stated that six elephant corridors were identified in the state in which five of these six corridors were more than five km in length.
The report stated that the Divisional Forests Officers (DFOs) were to seek help of wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Tura to map the corridor areas and acquire the land for converting them in Community Reserves and no action was taken on these matters.
Referring to the Baghmara-Balpakram corridor, the report stated the corridor was obstructed due to construction of a school building while jhumming had come down but haphazard plantation was a concern.
Again, turning to the Nokrek-Imangiri corridor, the report stated the three community reserves had been declared in the corridor and limestone mining and temporary mining roads opening up in the habitat was a threat.
Incidents of electrocution
The CAG pointed out that the Department of Forest & Environment needed to make sure that MeECL incorporates suitable design modification in the electric poles in elephant corridors to prevent electrocution of the animal.
It added that frequent incidents of electrocution reflected the lack of information on the elephant routes and their movements and that elephant routes needed be mapped so that developmental works could be avoided in the elephant routes to the extent possible.