While one expert said that the elephants may have been forced into their habitat due to mining, a Chattisgarh The official said the animals are known to walk for long distances.
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Kishor Mankar, Conservator of Forests (CF) in Gadchiroli said, “With ideal habitat of mixed forest and ample water, the herd had entered Gadchiroli mandal from Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh four days ago and was in Murumgaon on Tuesday and is now in Dhanora range. In. The herd is 40 km in Maharashtra. ”
“On Wednesday, elephants injured a farmer – Ashok Madavi of Yerkad village – when he approached the herd. We are not equipped and trained to deal with elephants. Employees and villagers have been told not to go near the jumbo to take pictures or videos. Farmers are very worried as their paddy crop is about to be harvested soon,” Mankar said.
In November 2019, Two Elephants – Nominated to hit and Balram – had moved for a short time from Manpur area of Chhattisgarh to Kochinara in Korchi tehsil in Gadchiroli. Jumbo was pushed towards Darekasa in Gondia and later moved towards Pachmarhi.
Gadchiroli District Honorary Wildlife Warden Uday Patel feels the elephants may have entered Gadchiroli through two possible routes — 1. Bawanpara-Dhamtari-Balod-Dalli Rajhara-Ambagarh-Malewada-Murumgaon-Dhanora; 2. Sitanadi-Udanti-Dhamtari-Manpur-Murumgaon-Yerkad-Dhanora.
The Highlands of Central India, a book written in 1874 by British author James Forsythe on forests, wild tribes and natural history, makes no mention of the presence of wild elephants in the eastern Vidarbha landscape after the 18th century. In the late 1800s, elephants were common in the northern areas of the Maikal hills, north of Bilaspur. Forsythe estimated 200–300 elephants in 3,000 km. This population was the western extension of Sirguja, Chota Nagpur and Cuttack.
Prafulla Bhamburkar Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), an NGO working on elephant conservation in other states, says, “It is forced migration because elephant states like Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have lost vast tracts of their habitat for iron ore and coal mines. losing it.”
“Elephants have started migrating from Odisha and Jharkhand to Chhattisgarh from 1980s, and from Chhattisgarh they have now started entering MP and Maharashtra. In 2018, a herd of 40 elephants from Chhattisgarh wandered near Bandhavgarh and did not return. The animals require up to 5,000 sq km of pristine forest and they wander 25 km daily,” said Chhattisgarh forest officials.
However, Chhattisgarh PCCF (Wildlife) PV Narasimha Rao said, “It is not a forced migration. Elephants keep walking for long distances and also return after the passage of time. We have around 300-320 elephants in the wild. It is true that the giant mammals are facing tough times due to conflict but we are taking steps to divert them to the forests.”
According to the Department of Mineral Resources, Chhattisgarh has about 5.6 million coal reserves, which is 16% of the total coal reserves in India. The twelve coalfields located in Raigad, Surguja, Koriya and Korba districts produce over 44,400 million tonnes of coal.
“Traditionally, elephants roamed freely in the Hasdeo Aranya sanctuary, but after mining began, the forest has become fragmented. An area of 400 sq km was proposed for elephant reserves which falls in Surajpur, Korba and Surguja, but an apex private group operates a large coal mine in Hasdeo Aranya area,” the NGOs said.
The total iron ore reserves of the state are 4,000 million tonnes, which is about 19% of the total iron ore reserves of the country. kondagaavNarayanpur, Jagdalpur and Dantewada in South Chhattisgarh are the primary sites for iron ore extraction. These coal and iron ore belts are natural habitats for elephants and 350 species of wild animals.
According to the WTI report ‘Right of Passage, Elephant Corridors of India’, the fragmented nature of the Indian landscape has led to an increase in encounters between elephants and humans, with people everywhere. In this conflict, 400-450 people and 100 elephants are claimed in the country every year.
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