The Supreme Court has ruled that no State can block elephant corridors. It directed the Central Government to conduct a nationwide survey and to ensure the right of passage for elephant herds through traditional corridors across State borders.
The Court held that elephant corridors are not State-specific, because herds naturally move across several States. Conservation, it said, therefore needs inter-State coordination.
It pointed to the inter-State and trans-national nature of elephant movement, citing herds that travel from Nepal through West Bengal to Jharkhand, and from Yamuna Nagar in Haryana to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The Court ordered strict implementation of its 2018 directions to remove spikes and to stop using fireballs to drive elephants away. It reiterated that elephants are Schedule I animals under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which gives them the highest level of statutory protection.
The Court also noted that the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Protecting its natural habitats and migratory corridors is necessary for its long-term survival.
Elephant corridors are strips of habitat that connect fragmented forest areas. They allow safe movement, maintain genetic diversity and reduce human-elephant conflict by giving elephants routes away from human settlements.
The Elephant Corridors of India, 2023 report, supported by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), identified 150 validated corridors across 15 States. West Bengal has the most, with 26. The network includes 19 inter-State corridors and 6 transboundary corridors connecting India and Nepal.
The Synchronous All India Population Estimation of Elephants (SAIEE) 2021–25 puts India's wild elephant population at 22,446. These animals are protected through 33 Elephant Reserves covering 80,777 sq. km across 14 major elephant-range States, along with the 150 identified corridors.
The 2010 Elephant Task Force recommended declaring the entire Elephant Reserve area Ecologically Sensitive under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. That could restrict mining and development across 46,000 sq km. The Task Force also proposed 10 elephant landscapes covering 1.1 lakh sq km to promote sustainable land-use planning.
With reference to the Supreme Court's recent ruling on elephant corridors, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following information:
| Item | Figure | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Validated elephant corridors identified in the Elephant Corridors of India, 2023 report | 150 |
| 2. | Elephant Reserves in India | 33 |
| 3. | Corridors in West Bengal, the State with the most | 26 |
| 4. | Wild elephant population per SAIEE 2021–25 | 22,446 |
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
Consider the following statements:
Statement-I: The Supreme Court treated elephant corridors as an inter-State matter.
Statement-II: Elephant herds travel across several States, for example from Nepal through West Bengal to Jharkhand.
Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
