DIGBOI/MARGHERITA, July 2 - �Elephants are big, powerful but fragile... the elephant is a gentleman and man must give way to the elephant. We are not going to allow anyone to come in the path of the elephant,� the Supreme Court of India observed thus on January 22, 2020 while hearing a case on illegal resorts and structures on the Nilgiris elephant corridor in Tamil Nadu.
But in spite of strong directives by the apex court and NGT in recent times, elephant corridors continue to bear the brunt of commercial, industrial and anthropogenic pressures, resulting in blockage of these time-tested paths used by the pachyderms and triggering man-elephant conflicts.
A case in point happens to be the two major elephant corridors � Golai and Bogapani � in Dehing Patkai Elephant Reserve in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts where expanding commercial and residential space has robbed the elephants of their right of passage for no fault of theirs. The Kathabari corridor near Jagun is reported to be relatively free from disturbances.
The Golai elephant corridor connecting the east and west blocks of the reserve presents a pathetic site today, as this correspondent found out during a field visit � with large structures, including an Indian Oil Corporation dispatch terminal, hotels, and residential buildings effectively blocking what had been an unhindered elephant path since ages.
�Elephants still use the nearby areas to cross over the road but they have to move through villages and tea gardens, often coming into conflict with humans. The land-use pattern changed substantially in the area, constricting the elephant path whereas it was a common sight to see hundreds of elephants passing through the corridor till a few years ago. The matter was raised at different forums and even NGT but the corridor could not be saved,� a forest official said.
According to him, around 300 elephants use the two corridors to migrate from one end to the other of the reserve.
Voicing similar concerns, conservation activist Devajit Moran of Green Bud Society said that the Bogapani corridor � another widely used path by elephants � was also getting disrupted due to the putting up of barbed wire fencing over large plots and tea gardens and indiscriminate digging of trenches.
�It is comparatively in better shape than Golai but the threats looming are ominous and need urgent intervention. It is precisely due to the man-made hurdles in both these corridors that elephants are increasingly redirecting their movement through nearby tea gardens, villages and even towns. Dumping of garbage, including broken bottles, on the corridor has also emerged as another problem as has mushrooming of dhabas. The corridors need to be restored,� he added.
As long-ranging animals, elephants require free movement between forests to meet their food and water needs and maintain a streamlined genetic flow so essential for ensuring long-term well-being of their gene pool.
�This makes the elephant corridors critically important and not just for elephants but for other animals too, including the tiger, as they provide contiguity to different wildlife habitats. As much of the corridors falls outside protected forests and often near human habitations and cropland, an effective mechanism needs to be worked out to keep these spaces free for elephant movement,� a retired forest official said.
This, he added, can be achieved by initiating some legal provisions for protecting elephant corridors existing in non-forest areas and also by engaging with local communities.
Project Elephant launched by the Government of India in 1992 as a Centrally-sponsored scheme with the objectives to protect elephants, their habitat and corridors does have guidelines aimed at securing the corridors.
�Unfortunately, the government has been slack in working on those and devising an ideal way to ensure right of passage for the elephants. This should be done before we lose the corridors completely,� he said.