New Delhi: Constructing obstacles or creating blockades in elephant corridors is unacceptable, the Supreme Court said on Monday, directing the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to conduct a nationwide survey to check if any state is doing so.
States cannot construct obstacles in the pathways of elephants to prevent loss of crops and livelihoods, the bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana made it clear.
“Construction of any kind of obstacle or creating blockades in elephant corridors is not acceptable. We are very clear that there cannot be obstacles in the way of wildlife. Elephant herds have a practice of travelling long distances. No state can say that just because crops are getting destroyed, they will have to construct obstacles on their path,” the Court said, as reported by The Telegraph Online.
The practice of using fireballs and spikes in West Bengal is prevalent because the elephants come from Nepal and pass through West Bengal on their way to Jharkhand and other states, Justice Bagchi noted.
There are elephants in the Yamuna Nagar area of Haryana from where they travel to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, CJI Kant said, adding: “No state can block their path.”
The Court also forbade the use of any kind of fireballs or mashaals (torches) to chase away elephants, asking state authorities to implement its directions.
It also directed the Centre to submit its report in six weeks, while observing that there were already mandatory guidelines issued by the MoEFCC to ensure seamless and unobstructed elephant corridors passing through different states.
“However, owing to certain local factors, the elephant corridors have been impeded, blocked or obstructed. We direct the Union of India, the ministry… to conduct a fresh survey and submit a comprehensive survey report, including the initiatives and necessary steps taken by them to prevent such obstructions,” it said.
The status report shall also point out the position on the use of fireballs and mashaals or any other coercive action against wildlife, the bench instructed.
The counsel appearing for petitioner, activist Prerna Singh Bindra, and others said elephant herds are chased in a mob-like manner, which in turn aggravates the problem.
Steps have to be taken to prevent the use of firearms, fireballs, and mashaals against the natural movement of the elephants, she submitted.
CJI Kant agreed, saying that the court must be apprised through the status report to be filed in six weeks.
The Court had agreed to hear a plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings for alleged violation of its orders asking state authorities to desist from using fireballs to drive elephants that come near human habitation or croplands, on November 14, 2024.
It had issued a notice to West Bengal’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, seeking his response on the plea and posted the matter for hearing after four weeks.
Bindra and the others, referred to the orders passed by the Apex court on August 1, 2018 and December 4, 2018 while hearing a plea that highlighted the cruel methods used in some states to manage human-wildlife conflict and, in particular, human-elephant conflict.