NEW DELHI, Aug 3: Tura MP Agatha Sangma has urged the Centre to go for proper mapping of elephant corridors in Meghalaya so as to bring down the incidence of man-animal conflicts.
The elephant corridors are specially designed gaps along the fenced border to allow the pachyderms to cross between Bangladesh and India for food and shelter.
Meghalaya had proposed five such corridors, all in the Garo Hills region, to keep track of elephant movements to and from Bangladesh from the Balpakram National Park in South Garo Hills.
Speaking at the Lok Sabha, the MP said that the corridors are meant to reduce man-animal conflict by facilitating free movement and avoiding direct contact with the elephants.
The hill state has several elephant corridors but none of them have been mapped so far, she added.
The MP also made a startling revelation that the amendments to the proposed Wild Life Protection Act by the Centre have, by default, allowed commercial display and trade of elephants.
Agatha also vehemently opposed a proposal to declare certain animals as vermin, which, she said, will ultimately result in the annihilation of their declining population.
