The Union Environment Ministry Thursday held a review of key initiatives under Project Elephant in the 21st meeting of the project’s steering committee chaired by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in Dehradun, and it was noted that Phase-I of the synchronized elephant population estimation was completed for the Northeastern states, as per the ministry. Yadav also chaired a meeting of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife in Dehradun and the committee recommended the inclusion of sloth bear and gharial in the ministry’s species recovery programme, the ministry added. According to the ministry, during the meeting it was also noted that as part of the government’s plans to mitigate elephant mortalities due to collisions with trains, 3,452.4 km of sensitive railway stretches were surveyed and 77 high-risk areas were identified for mitigation. Project Elephant is a centrally sponsored scheme and the steering committee reviews the project’s implementation and issues such as elephant conservation and protection of habitats. On the synchronized elephant population estimation in the Northeastern states, the committee noted that over 16,500 elephant dung samples have been collected, as per the ministry. Further, the committee also discussed regional action plans on human-elephant conflict in southern and Northeastern India. The last elephant census or estimation exercise was in 2017 which found that the country was home to around 29,964 elephants. Even though a report on the next synchronized elephant census titled ‘Status of Elephants in India 2022-23’ was prepared, The Indian Express had reported last October that it was shelved citing a delay in census in the North-East and because it was an interim report. That report had noted a 20% drop in elephant count compared to five years ago. Last December, in reply to a question in Parliament, the Environment ministry had said that between 2019-20 and 2023-24, 73 elephant deaths due to collision with trains or train accidents were reported. The committee also noted progress on DNA profiling of captive elephants, with 1,911 genetic profiles completed across 22 states. Yadav urged coordinated efforts between Indian Railways, Ministry of Power, NHAI and mine developers to reduce human-wildlife conflict, as per a government release. He also emphasised the need for systematic collection and analysis of data on elephant deaths due to railway accidents, and knowledge sharing among states.
