Bhubaneswar: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Odisha Chief Secretary over not notifying elephant corridors in the state.
The NGT also sought a reply from the state on steps taken for the protection of elephants and posted the next hearing to January 30, 2023. It also asked the Odisha Chief Secretary to submit his reply during the next hearing.
On the 17th of August 2021, the National Green Tribunal asked the Odisha government to issue a notification for 14 elephant corridors within two months. Thought, the state government and other agencies involved had earlier identified 14 corridors but never notified them. As a result, the NGT has issued a show-cause notice to the Chief Secretary seeking a reply in the next hearing.
Environmentalists believe such a notification can give protection to vital corridors from mining and other similar activities.
It is pertinent to mention here that several cases are being filed in the Orissa high court seeking regulations to curb the death of elephants. On the other hand, such cases are also going on in the NGT.
An affidavit was submitted to the High Court by the Joint Task Force on the 16th of November 2022 mentioning that all the elephant corridors of the state will be identified.
These corridors will be identified in areas where elephants move and the local people will be alerted about elephant protection issues.
The action plan prepared to prevent the death of elephants will be finalized next December. Various issues in this action plan will be successfully implemented by December.
Efforts will be made to prevent elephant deaths due to electrocution and train accidents and discussions are underway with the electricity distribution company regarding the same.
The statement said that in consultation with the railways, alternative arrangements will be made to prevent the death of elephants due to train accidents in the elephant corridor. In this case, the giant task force will report to the High Court on the implementation of the action plan by January 18.
