CHENNAI: On an average, 100 elephants are dying every year in Tamil Nadu and man-elephant conflict is on the rise, yet the State has not received any funds for the last two years under the Centrally-sponsored ‘Project Elephant’ scheme. Project Elephant, launched in 1992 by the Union government, is an important financial source for States to protect elephants in their natural habitats and corridors.
As per official data, in the last five years between 2017-2021, a whopping 525 elephants have perished. However, the Union government in the last two fiscal years 2020-21 and 2021-22 didn’t release a single rupee to Tamil Nadu. The Union environment ministry, replying to an RTI application filed by Chennai-based animal rights activist Antony Rubin, has given out State-wise funds released under the Project Elephant from 2011-12 to 2020-21.
An analysis done by TNIE shows Tamil Nadu consistently has been receiving less funding compared to other two southern States — Karnataka and Kerala, which also have high elephant density (See box). Chief Wildlife Warden Shekhar Kumar Niraj acknowledged that lack of funding has severely hampered long-term conservation efforts. In fact, elephants are in peril in the State. As per the 2012 census, Tamil Nadu had an healthy population of 4,015 elephants, but the 2017 census recorded just 2,761 animals, a decline of 32 percent.
“We only have 50 days left this fiscal year and our proposal seeking `20 cr under Project Elephant is still pending. I am told the delay was due to introduction of Public Financial Management System (PFMS) for all Central schemes. The new system took almost six months to get operational. We were asked to upload the proposal again in PFMS which we did. Funds were received under Project Tiger, but funds under Project Elephant are awaited,” he said.
An official with Project Elephant in the Union environment ministry said: “Different parameters are taken into account before providing funding, including quality of proposals, past performance and fund utilisation. Compared to TN, Karnataka and Kerala perform better and also have higher elephant density.”
