SC suggests setting up task force

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to resolve the human-animal conflict, especially involving elephants, by setting up a task force to ensure no violence was caused to tuskers.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta told Additional Solicitor General A N S Nadkarni to consider the idea so that remedial and corrective steps could be taken and elephants in different parts of the country were not subjected to violence.

"There are problems related to elephants, rhinos, lions, tigers. Either you can have some kind of a multi-purpose body or have specific bodies to deal with them," the bench said.

The court said plea made by environmental activist, Prerna Singh Bindra for formulation of a task force and measures to deal with human and elephant conflict was not "something impossible" and it was rather for benefit of the country.

The bench said that 'Project Elephant,' which was launched in 1992 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to provide support to the states for protection of elephants and their habitats, might have been good but the issue was of its implementation.

Nadkarni said he would get back on the subject. He also pointed out the Centre has conducted inspections in some states, including Karnataka, where spikes and fireballs were used to drive away elephants.