With a large elephant population, Odisha has a mammoth responsibility
Bholu, the cute little elephant, happens to be the official mascot of Indian Railways. Sad that Indian Railways cares two hoots for Bholu.At least five of these gentle giants were mowed down in the State over the last two weeks. Four were run over by a speeding train during the wee hours of April 16 in Jharsuguda district. Next week, another jumbo was hit by a goods train in Dhenkanal. It died a few days later.
After West Bengal and Assam, railway tracks in Odisha have turned the new graveyard for jumbos. And typically, such tragic mishaps have been followed by a blame game. After the Jharsuguda incident, the Forest Department of Odisha turned the heat on railway authorities for not sticking to speed restrictions in the area which is a declared elephant passage. The Railways, on their part, passed the buck on the forest officials for failing to alert them on the movement of the elephant herd on time. Both sides slipped up and the jumbos paid the ultimate price.
So, what’s new about this? Nothing, to be precise! As many as 23 elephants have been killed by trains in the last eight years in the State. Every big mishap has generated some noise and led to confrontation between the two agencies. Then, it’s business as usual.This particular stretch at Bagdihi in Jharsuguda-Sundargarh border, which connects the Kolkata-Mumbai route, is actually one of the busiest in the region. A train passes by that section every 12 minutes which means every day, a whopping 120 trains use the route. It also happens to be an important elephant passage. Preliminary investigation revealed that Railway authorities had erected bamboo barricades stretching up to three to four kilometres by the tracks. Yet, the forest officials did not object. Last year, two elephants had slipped into a trench dug up for laying cables in the same patch and died. A third had come in contact with a live wire and perished near the same spot.
On its part, the Indian Railways finds the blanket speed restriction advisory by the Forest Department too impractical. In some stretches, the forest authorities have imposed a 12-hour speed prohibition which the Railway officials find bizarre and absurd. What about a little more vigilance from the local forest staff, they wonder. Not that their argument does not hold water, but all this only points at how cold vibes are between the two agencies.
These preventable deaths are only symptomatic of a bigger problem. Of an apathetic government – both at the Centre and State - that pays lip service to wildlife conservation. With linear infrastructure and mineral-based industrialisation pushed mindlessly in forested territories, large mammals like elephants and tigers have become the first casualty because such projects have caused widespread habitat fragmentation. With degradation of habitat comes conflict. No prizes for guessing why Odisha remains one of the worst man-elephant conflict zones in the entire country.
When mineral development was at its peak and the Government turned a blind eye to blatant loot by the mining companies, elephants were the worst hit. Keonjhar district, epicenter of the mining scam, saw elephants flee to territories where these giants found safe haven. In 2002, Keonjhar division had an elephant population of 112 which dropped sharply over the next decade. Many of these moved to Dhenkanal where their population grew. Soon, Dhenkanal district emerged as one of the worst conflict zones because of concentration of industrialization and large infrastructure projects.
A major reason which has resulted in unabated conflict and death of precious wildlife in Odisha is its political leadership’s lack of intent to save the situation. In the last two decades, the Naveen Patnaik Government has not created a single new protected area which speaks volumes of the significance it attaches to wildlife.It is not too late to send the message that it cares, because the existing conservation strategy is clearly not working and the conflict scenario would only escalate in the days to come with more pressure on infrastructure and development.
Odisha holds about 70 per cent of the elephant population in east-central region and has a responsibility to discharge.For a start, it must put in place a focused conservation and management strategy for these giants. The management plan for elephant reserves and carrying capacity study undertaken by expert Dr Raman Sukumar must be assessed and put to use. Every project proposal – be it for industry, power, mining or infrastructure - should go through rigorous examination keeping in mind habitat and corridors of large carnivores and herbivores. There should be no compromise on creation of dedicated wildlife corridors by project proponents like NHAI and Railways.
The State Government is at an advanced stage of re-introducing tigers in Satkosia Tiger Reserve and it would do well to strengthen the adjoining habitats like Dhenkanal and Athagarh which continue to be territorial divisions. The least the State could do is declare these two as wildlife divisions to bring in focused management and mitigation measures.It could be a start and more must follow. Sooner than later.