Bhubaneswar: With the Union government reconstituting the Steering Committee of Project Elephant, retired IFS officer from Odisha Susanta Nanda has been appointed as a member in the new panel.
The new committee was notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Wednesday replacing the panel formed in March 2022. It will be chaired by the Union Environment Minister and include senior officials and experts.
Susanta Nanda, who was a 1989-batch IFS officer from the Odisha cadre, retired in November 2024 as PCCF (Wildlife). He is known for his work on wildlife protection, including steps to reduce elephant–train accidents and efforts to manage human–wildlife conflict.
After retirement, he continues to promote wildlife awareness through social media, where his videos on nature and biodiversity are widely followed.
Other non-official members in the new committee include Dr Samir Sinha, Dr Narayan Sharma, and Ravi Singh of WWF-India.
The committee, with a three-year term, will review Project Elephant, launched in 1992 to protect elephants, their habitats, and migration corridors.
