Congress leader and former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) said elephant habitats and corridors are being systematically destroyed by mining and other projects, asserting that the will to protect and preserve is markedly absent.
His remarks came a day after the Supreme Court directed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to conduct a nationwide survey to check if any State has constructed obstacles or created blockades in elephant corridors, saying it was unacceptable.
Reacting to the development, Mr. Surveys exist. “Construction of any kind of obstacle or creating blockades in elephant corridors is not acceptable. We are very clear that there cannot be obstacles in the way of wildlife. Elephant herds have a practice of travelling long distances. “However, owing to certain local factors, the elephant corridors have been impeded, blocked or obstructed.
Because crops are getting destroyed, they will have to construct obstacles on their path,” the bench said, no state can say that just. Because the elephants come from Nepal and through West Bengal they go to Jharkhand and other States, justice Bagchi said the practice of using fireballs and spikes in West Bengal is prevalent.
Ramesh said, “While elephant habitats and corridors are being systematically destroyed by mining & other projects. The will to protect and preserve is markedly absent, the Congress general secretary in-charge communications said. CJI Kant said elephants are found in Haryana’s Yamuna Nagar area and travel from there to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. “No state can block their path,” the CJI said. We direct the Union of India and the ministry to conduct a fresh survey and submit a comprehensive survey report, including the initiatives and necessary steps taken by them to prevent such obstructions,” it said.
