NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said there can be no obstruction to the movement of elephants between states and directed the Centre to conduct a fresh survey of elephant corridors across the country.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana said walls, trenches or any other structures blocking traditional elephant migration routes were “unacceptable”.
“There can be no obstacle, no blockade or impediment in the movement of elephants from one state to another. It is unacceptable,” the bench said while hearing a plea seeking protection of an elephant corridor in West Bengal.
The court asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati to convey its concerns to the Ministry of Environment and Forests and directed the ministry to conduct a fresh survey to identify states where elephant corridors have been obstructed.
When counsel for petitioner Prerna Singh Bindra highlighted the situation in West Bengal, Justice Bagchi said elephant herds from Nepal and north Bengal move towards Odisha and Chhattisgarh, where walls have allegedly been constructed along their migratory routes.
CJI Kant said states could not evade their responsibility to preserve elephant corridors citing crop damage, complaints from farmers or difficulties faced by villagers.
“The solution is not blocking the elephant corridors but lies somewhere else,” he said.
The bench directed that the ministry’s guidelines for maintaining elephant corridors be implemented strictly. Although Bhati informed the court that a survey had been conducted in 2023, the bench ordered a fresh exercise to assess the current status.
Justice Bagchi stressed the need for coordination between the Centre and states, noting that elephant corridors cannot be treated as state-specific because elephants routinely cross state boundaries.
CJI Kant also questioned how states could block traditional migration routes used by elephant herds for generations.
The Supreme Court gave the government eight weeks to submit a status report based on the fresh survey. The report must also detail the implementation of the ban on using firearms, explosives and fire torches to drive elephant herds away from their natural migration routes.
