With a majority of the elephant corridors becoming virtually defunct in Uttarakhand, the State Forest department is going to redraft its elephant corridor revival plan by way of conducting physical verification of the movements of the elephants on the said corridors in the mountain State.
“We have received a letter to conduct physical verification of the elephant corridors to know whether there is any movement of wildlife including elephants on these corridors,” said Haldwani divisional forest officer Pankaj Kumar.
“This physical verification will help us identify which elephant corridors are used by pachyderms in this region. Hopefully, work will start soon,” he added.
The Haldwani forest division assumes huge significance both from flora and fauna point of view. It is home to a variety of animal species including elephants. The old Gola elephant corridor, the Ratighat elephant corridor and the Boom elephant corridor among others are part of this forest division.
The Gola elephant corridor that goes up to Tanakpuar-Nepal border from Haldwani, has been blocked due to certain commercial activities and coming of major establishments along the corridor. Besides, unauthorised colonies along the Gola elephant corridor have only made the elephants’ movements tougher.