A CORRESPONDENT
BOKAKHAT: Despite the pride Assam’s people take in their elephants, the public is now confronting a horrific disaster. Elephant–human clashes have assumed terrifying proportions in different parts of Assam, especially in the Numaligarh and Morangi areas. In many places, people have been deprived of sleep. Year after year, these encounters have intensified, and have reached an unprecedented peak. The relentless expansion of human settlements, forest clearing, disruption of traditional elephant corridors and the resulting squeeze on their habitats and food sources are at the root of this crisis.
Over the past 24 hours alone, wild elephants in the Morangi region have killed two people. In the last five years in Assam, 383 people have died in elephant attacks, while 92 elephants have perished. This information was presented in Parliament by the Central Government. According to data shared by the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh, elephant–human conflicts in Assam have been rising every year, and correspondingly the numbers of human and elephant fatalities are climbing day by day.
Per government figures, in the financial year 2019–20, 75 people were killed by elephants in Assam; in 2020–21, 91; in 2021–22, 63; in 2022–23, 80; and in 2023–24, 74. During the same five-year span, of the 92 elephants that died, 24 were struck by trains, 55 were electrocuted, 10 died after consuming paddy (rice) crops, and 3 were deliberately killed by humans. Assam leads the country in elephant deaths by train collisions and paddy poisoning, and ranks second nationwide in electrocutions. Odisha holds first place in that category.
Meanwhile, under the pretext of expanding national highways, trees have been felled indiscriminately by the Central Government. Replanting, however, has fallen far short of promises. In 2014–15 around 2.4 million saplings were cut; in 2015–16, 1,696,917; in 2016–17, 1,701,416; in 2017–18, 2,552,164; and in 2018–19, 2,691,080. Another report states that between 2001 and 2019, some 2,388 sq km of forest in Assam was cleared for various projects. For example, for widening National Highway 37 from Numaligarh to Dibrugarh, millions of trees were felled. Although the Assam government proposed planting one crore saplings across the state, actual figures on how many were planted remain unclear. Under the national afforestation scheme, Assam secured Rs 2.56 crore in 2015–16, Rs 30 crore in 2016–17, Rs 70 crore in 2017–18, and Rs 45.84 crore in 2018–19.
The destruction of forests has brought widespread damage, including to the climate and other environmental aspects.
Also Read: Eight elephants killed in a month in Manas: Jeep Safari Association
Also Watch: