Delhi to rescue of jumbos in Assam, India

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The Telegraph, Guwahati, 11 July, 2005 ( www.telegraphindia.com )

Link:

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050711/asp/northeast/story_4970155.asp

 

Delhi to rescue of jumbos

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Jorhat, July 10: The cries of elephants being hounded out of one of

their primary habitats in Assam have reached the corridors of the

Union environment and forest ministry.

 

Taking note of the presence of a stone quarry in the vicinity of a

2.5-km-long elephant corridor straddling the Kaziranga National Park

and the adjacent Karbi Anglong hills, the ministry has asked chief

wildlife warden M.C. Malakar to take appropriate action for the

safety of the animals. In his letter to Malakar, inspector-general

of forests S.S. Bist, who is also the director of Project Elephant,

said he was shocked to learn that a stone quarry had been set up

within a wildlife reserve.

 

At least 200 dynamite blasts are triggered everyday at the quarry,

affecting the 200-odd elephants that use the Mikirchang-Bormokuri

Pathar corridor regularly. The cacophony can be heard at least 15 km

away.

 

Allotted to government contractors in September last year to extract

stones for the Bogibeel bridge project, the quarry is a mere 14 km

from the national park. Disturbed by the explosions, the elephants

have started attacking humans. Elephants have trampled at least nine

persons to death over the last few months.

 

" It is not surprising that the elephant herds which used to roam

about freely not long ago are becoming increasingly aggressive, "

Golaghat wildlife warden Arup B. Goswami said.

 

Goswami and his Jorhat counterpart Santa Sharma said they had

alerted the authorities to the dangers of continuing quarrying in

the vicinity of a major wildlife habitat. " Apart from bringing this

to the notice of the authorities concerned, we cannot do much. The

man-elephant conflict will become more violent unless the stone

quarry is shifted, " Sharma said.

 

The government recently deputed a hunter to eliminate a rogue

elephant that was causing havoc in the area. However, nobody seemed

to know whether the elephant was really a rogue or had just reacted

to the regular explosions in the area.

 

Over 300 people today blocked national highways 37 and 39 at

Numaligarh Tinali for about two hours, demanding that the stone

quarry be shifted. The blockade was organised by Nature's Beckon, a

conservation NGO.

 

The 3,270-square km Kaziranga National Park and the adjacent Karbi

Anglong district were officially declared as Assam's fourth elephant

reserve on April 17, 2003.