Force of Habitat

The enduring challenges of mitigating human-elephant conflict /

- DEEPANWITA GITA NIYOGI

The Chhattisgarh government decided to create a 450-square-kilometre elephant reserve in Lemru, located in Korba district, in 2005. Even though the union environment ministry, which has been releasing funds to state governments under Project Elephant since 1992, sanctioned the project in 2007, the Raman Singh administration shelved the project the following year. Media reports claimed that the decision was taken to facilitate coal mining in Korba, a major industrial hub.

The state’s current chief minister, Bhupesh Baghel, decided to go ahead with the project upon assuming office, in December 2018. Wildlife activists and experts believe the reserve will benefit elephants and reduce conflict between the animals and humans. “There is considerable elephant movement in the state from Odisha and Jharkhand due to forest fragmentation and environmental degradation,” Prathmesh Mishra, a Bilaspur-based activist, told me, adding that the reserve would provide the migrant elephants a safe haven. “The human-elephant conflict is manageable, and coexistence is possible, as Chhattisgarh has good forest cover,” Manivasagan S, the divisional forest officer for Dharamjaigarh, which borders Korba, told me.