Ready proposal to demarcate Dulung-Subansiri elephant corridor, Union environment ministry tells Arunachal, Assam

Ready proposal to demarcate Dulung-Subansiri elephant corridor, Union environment ministry tells Arunachal, Assam

Subject: Environment

Section: Protected Area

Context:

• The wildlife division of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently directed the forest departments of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam to prepare a proposal to notify the Dulung-Subansiri elephant corridor.

More on news:

• The corridor will facilitate the east-west movement of elephants across the Subansiri River. 

About Elephant Corridors:

• Elephant corridors are linear, narrow, natural habitat linkages that allow elephants to move between secure habitats without being disturbed by humans. 
• They help animal movement and enable genetic exchange which in turn helps in sustaining the elephant population.
• The number of elephant corridors have increased to 150 against 88 registered by the Government of India in 2010.
• West Bengal has the most elephant corridors i.e. 26, amounting to 17 per cent of the total corridors.
• The East central region contributed to 35 per cent (that is 52 corridors) while the North East region was second largest with 32 percent (48 corridors in total).
• International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species:
  • African Forest Elephant Critically Endangered. 
  • African Savanna Elephant- Endangered. 
  • Asian Elephant- Endangered.
• Elephants come under Schedule I of The Wildlife Protection Act,1972.

About Lower Subansiri hydro-project:

• The 2000 MW Lower Subansiri hydro-project, executed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC), is located in the Kamle and Dhemaji districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, respectively.
• It is being constructed on the Subansiri River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River.

About Subansiri River:

• It is a trans-Himalayan River and a tributary of the Brahmaputra River that flows through Tibet’s Lhuntse County in the Shannan Prefecture, and the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
• It is the largest tributary of the Brahmaputra contributing 7.92% of the Brahmaputra’s total flow.
• Small tributaries of the Subansiri include Rangandi, Dikrong and Kamle.

Areas in news:

Dulung: Assam

Subansiri: Arunachal Pradesh