The Supreme Court ordered the Union Environment Ministry to conduct a fresh survey of India’s elephant corridors and report the reasons for obstructions within them by October 14. The Court made its order on August 17 while hearing a petition against the practice of using fireballs and other harmful methods to deter elephants from entering human dominated landscapes.
The Court observed that though guidelines existed to ensure the smooth passage of elephants, “owing to certain local factors, the elephant corridors have been impeded/blocked/obstructed.” Elephant corridors are strips of land that facilitate the movement of elephants between two or more viable habitat patches.
In his oral remarks, Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly said that no state could obstruct such corridors. “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,” the three-judge Bench stated, as per media reports.
The Wildlife Institute of India identified 150 elephant corridors in the country in 2023. Most of these corridors fall outside protected areas and national parks, and are encroached by settlements, agriculture, fences, and other infrastructure projects. Out of the 150 corridors identified, 15 were found to be impaired, 29 were found to be used in decreasing frequency, and no information was available for another 18.
The Supreme Court instructed the Ministry to conduct a fresh survey and submit a comprehensive report “including the necessary steps taken by them to prevent such obstruction.” It also said the status report should include the progress on steps taken to prohibit the use of fireballs, mashaals (fire torches), or any other coercive measure to divert the natural movement of the elephants.
“A specific ban on ‘Hulla Parties’, etc. would also be required in this regard, and this Court shall be apprised about the action taken on the same through the aforesaid status report,” says the order. Hulla parties are groups of people who are tasked with scaring elephants away, often using spiked rods and fireballs. In West Bengal, these groups are recruited by the state government.
Elephants are a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, afforded the highest protections under the law. A contempt plea was filed against the West Bengal government in 2024, after a pregnant female elephant was attacked by a hulla party. The elephant died after a fire-spiked rod pierced her back.
Banner image: A group of elephants crossing the Nepal-India border. Image by Nissan Sharma via Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 4.0].
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