The challenges to human-wildlife coexistence has taken a toll on Assam’s rich fauna, which is dwindling fast. If experts are to be believed, doomsday for Guwahati’s wildlife population is only 10 years away unless remedial steps are taken without delay. According to field-level officials of Assam Forest Department, no effort has been made to develop a “strength, weakness, opportunity, threat framework” required for planning wildlife conservation in and around Guwahati city.
For a city which takes pride in 11 reserve forests — one of the highest urban wildlife concentrations in the world — there is no written plan till now for its management.
More than 40 elephants have been killed in Assam in the past three years. Poisoning, electrocution, illegal hunting, and last but not least, train accidents have been the cause.
Most of the fatalities have taken place near prime elephant habitats where the animals have been hit by trains mostly at night or during times of poor visibility. For the elephants, the chances of survival are near-zero after being hit by a passenger or goods train travelling in some speed of consequence. Even at 40 kmph, a full-grown elephant would have its life snuffed out within minutes of contact with a locomotive. And trains running through their habitat is not the only flashpoint that is worrisome. More than 4000 sq.km of reserve forest area in the State is under encroachment from settlers. Because of the disturbance to their natural habitat, these animals invariably cross over into human habitations. While 40% of the reserve forests now lie encroached, 90% of the encroachment was for dwelling purposes and the rest for extended cropping. According to the Central Empowered Committee, constituted by the Supreme Court, one of the main reasons for rampant encroachment is the lack of political will.
It is a battle between lopsided adversaries, where odds are overwhelmingly stacked against the elephants. Trains in Assam have been the cause of death of several elephants and have maimed many more. With elephants forced to wander out into human settlements in search of food owing to encroachment-induced depletion of resources, more deaths are perceived as inevitable.
Though the government had constituted the Guwahati Wildlife Division in January 2006 for effective management of wildlife conservation in the city, it still hasn’t been able to chalk out a plan for the management of urban wildlife.
