Berhampur: An elephant rescue-cum-rehabilitation centre will come up in Chandragiri Reserve Forest area under Ghumusar North Forest Division of Odisha’s Ganjam district.
Bhanjanagar MLA Pradyumna Kumar Nayak on Saturday said the proposal of the centre by Ghumusar North Forest Division is under active consideration of the state government and is likely to be approved soon. He has already discussed the matter with Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia, Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change.
The rescue centre for elephants in Chandragiri will be third such facility in the State after Chandaka and Kapilash. The centre will spread over 21 hectare of forest land near Beruabadi and have the capacity to house 8 elephants as per the proposal.
“Besides treating injured and ailing elephants, the centre will provide an environment for quick recovery, enabling the jumbos to get back to their active herds again,” said Himansu Sekhar Mohanty, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ghumusar North.
It will include a quarantine and treatment unit, transition zone, water facilities, solar lighting and fodder cultivation area. It will care for elephants that are aged, injured or ailing. It will be headed by a range officer.
The centre will entail an expenditure of around Rs 3 crore. The State government will bear its daily expenses. Besides, the Centre will provide funds for development activities at the facility.
Since the area has a sizable population of elephants, wildlife activists have been demanding an elephant rescue-cum-rehabilitation centre in the area. The elephants from the neighbouring divisions also migrate to other areas very frequently.
The centre will also look after jumbos in forest divisions including Ghumusar North having 61 elephants, Berhampur-32, Paralakhemundi-9, Nayagarh-37, Boudh-16, Baliguda-32 and Phulbani-22, sources said.
The elephant population was revealed during three-day winter census exercise undertaken from November 14 to 16 in these divisions. Evidence of elephant presence was not found in 13 Divisions of Odisha including Ghumusar South Division during the census.
Total 2103 elephants were counted in Odisha, according to the All-Odisha Elephant Census 2024 (Winter) report of the Forest Department. Those include 334 adult tuskers, 12 adult makhnas, 678 adult females, 186 sub-adult tuskers, 4 sub-adult makhnas, 305 subadult females, 181 juveniles and 403 calves. The census was carried in 48 Forest Divisions across 28 districts of Odisha.
