An elephant is seen on wayside of the Chandaka Elephant sanctuary just outskirts of Bhubaneswar. File photo
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Odisha would lose about 390 sq km of area used by migrating elephants as foraging ground and corridor in one district on account of massive coal mining alone in Angul district, says a study of Wildlife Institute of India.
Beside, human-elephant conflict, which is already in a critical State, is likely to become acute following disturbance in elephant habitats.
A study ‘Status and Management of Elephants in Coal Mine Landscape of Odisha’ conducted by Karthy S and Gopi G. V, scholars of WII, says, “using geospatial analysis, habitat suitability modelling, and conflict data from forest department it is predicted that the Angul division would lose about 390 sq km of forest if the proposed coal blocks come into operation.”
“This loss of forest habitat, combined with the growing number of human deaths due to elephants in the Angul forest division would result in increase in conflict situation and devastating for the elephant population in Odisha,” they predicted.
The study appeared WII’s quarterly magazine ‘Trumpet’ says Odisha holds the highest number of Asian elephants (1,976 individuals) in the east-central region of India. This is 63% of the entire east-central population (3,128) and 6.5% of the total elephant population in India as per 2017 estimation.
The State has elephant presence in 43 out of 50 forest divisions with a growth rate of 1.2% between 2015 and 2017. Some of the districts have recorded disproportionately high conflict.
The study was conducted on the background that Angul forest division is important to elephants while it is also recognized for its coal wealth which accounts for 20% of India’s coal reserve.
“As per Site Specific Elephant Management Plan for Angul Forest Division, 2022, this has led to rapid developmental activities like thermal power plant, steel plant, road and railway networks, transmission lines and pipelines in Angul division. Most part of the division is expected to be leased to coalmine industries in the near future, which may turn out catastrophic for the elephants as well as the existing conflict scenario in the entire state of Odisha,” the study finds.
The WII scholars had adopted the MaxEnt approach, a geospatial data analysis, to determine the suitable habitat for the elephants in the Angul division.
“The MaxEnt output shows that most of the habitat utilised by the elephants fall over the proposed coal block region. There are already operational coal mines in the Angul division which again hinder the movement of the elephant,” the study points out.
The WII scholars recommended reconsidering declaring the entire coal belt of Angul district for mining use. They also came up with a suggestion of establishing habitat connectivity between Satkosia Tiger Reserve and Sambalpur, Deogarh divisions by forest restoration along the west border of Angul division. (EOM)
Published – June 28, 2025 06:28 am IST
