New Delhi: Twenty-nine elephants have
been killed after being knocked down by trains across the
country since 2007, the Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday.
Replying to a query in Lok Sabha, Environment Minister
Jairam Ramesh said the matter (of jumbo deaths) has been taken
with the Railways Ministry and the respective state forest
departments to prevent such casualties in the future.
"In affected states like West Bengal, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala and Assam, Railways and Forests departments are meeting
periodically to evolve and implement more mitigatory
measures," he said.
Giving year-wise details, Ramesh said that six jumbos
died in 2009 while 8 and 15 respectively died in 2008 and 2007
in the country.
Replying to another question, he said the government
has set up a task force on Project Elephant for giving
detailed recommendations to upgrade the project to bring about
a more effective conservation and management regime for wild
and captive elephants.
"The task force headed by wildlife expert Mahesh
Rangarajan with 11 others will submit its report by May-end,"
he added.
As per the last census done in the year 2007-08, the
population of wild elephants across the country is estimated
to be between 27669 to 27719.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 16:08