BENGALURU: The authorities of the State and Centre should extend the advanced technical inventions, including an e-surveillance system which is stated to be a pilot project undertaken in the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve by using artificial intelligence software and a CCTV camera which provides alerts about wildlife and human movements, to all the wildlife and human habitat areas, wherever necessary, the Karnataka High Court has said.
The court said this while disposing of a suo motu PIL taken up based on media reports about the unnatural death of elephants after the electrocution of Dasara elephant Ashwathama on June 11, 2024.
The court said that radio collaring the animals is one of the methods to keep track of their movements and the liability of the officers and employees of the forest department for their negligence and dereliction of duty should be fixed, wherever it is found that there is an element of human negligence which cause the death of elephants.
Ensuring that the elephants are kept away from the risk of electrocution is in the hands of the forest department, said a division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice MI Arun. The court also directed the authorities to identify and map the risk areas where there is the possibility of mishaps on account of sagging power lines and illegal electrical fences which may have come up unauthorisedly within the elephant habitats and fringe areas.
“In order to ensure safe elephant movement, overpasses should be constructed. Legal action should be taken whenever police complaints are lodged for violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Electricity Act, 2003 and other laws.
The investigation should be expeditious,” the court said, while directing the forest authorities to act in coordination with the energy department to check the sagging electrical lines. The habitats of the elephants and the elephant’s corridors should be regulated on this count, the court added.
‘Destroy illegal electric fences by farmers’
“Sagging electrical lines cause a greater threat in the hilly regions. This happens due to maintenance of the power lines or on account of non-observation of norms for minimum height for the terrain and for the steeper areas as fixed by the National Board for Wildlife. These norms should be adhered to for continuous maintenance.
There should be an evolved and effective mechanism to check, prevent and destroy illegal electrical fences which the farmers create for their agricultural fields located near the forest land to prevent the elephants from entering into their fields,” the court said.
The court observed that the unauthorised illegal fences erected by the farmers often cause the elephants to come into contact and suffer electrocution. “Such illegal unauthorised electric fences should not be permitted by the authorities and should be replaced by scientific and protective barricades in such areas where farmers grow their crops or where there are residential colonies.
The norms for erecting electrical cables and telecommunication towers should be scrupulously observed. The underground cabling in the eco-sensitive zones should be promoted,” the court added.