The government is also planning to make an amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act to set up NECA.
A report submitted to the Environment and Forest Ministry by a task force led by Mahesh Rangarajan recommended that land corridors used by elephants while moving through forest patches should be secured as community and conservation reserves under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The 12 member panel also suggested that the existing elephant’s reserves should be declared as Ecologically Sensitive Area under Environment Protection Act.
An increase in conflicts between human and elephants leading to destruction of crops and injuries and deaths caused has been a cause of worry for the authorities.
The committee has thus suggested that the government should restrict itself from buying the patches used by elephants to build national parks and sanctuaries. This would restrict the movement of elephants to human habitation.
The committee has demanded a sum of Rs 600 crore in the 12th five year plan for setting up NECA, out of which Rs 200 crore would be kept for securing the corridors used by the elephants.
In addition to this Rs 100 crore would supposedly be spent on reducing and compensating for human-elephant conflicts.
It is estimated there are 26,000 Asian elephants in India today, of which 3,500 are working animals. The elephant ratio is skewed in some places in the country with just one male for 100 females.
