Express News Service
 In the last 10 years, approximately 400 pachyderms have died in Orissa. The decade also marked an upswing in mineral and industrial activities. Besides encroaching habitats of elephants through increasing mining as well as urbanisation activities, large-scale infrastructure such as road network and railway lines have led to fragmentation of the corridors of the elephants in the last few years. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, also in charge of the Forest and Environment Department, recently announced a management plan that was aimed at improving migration corridors. Now that the Orissa Government has woken up to damage control strategies, some posers remain - Is it too late? Or will it be too little? The Wildlife Trust of India which had carried out a mapping of the elephant corridors of the country had identified nine such stretches in Orissa. Six of the corridors were inside the State while three were inter-state patches. By encouraging mining and industrial activities, the Government only helped degrade the corridors. The CAG had also rapped the State for its indifferent attitude towards problems of the elephants. “Elephant activities in Orissa were being affected due to mining activities, particularly in Keonjhar and Sundargah and several inter and intra-State corridors used by the elephants had been destroyed.The forced restraint on their movement and consequent confinement to small groups changed behaviour of the elephants and human-elephant conflict was on the rise,’’ it said. In fact, Planning Commission too had identified acquisition and development of corridors as one of the thrust activities under the Project Elephant for the 11th Five-Year Plan but funds utilisation was less than satisfactory. “One of the biggest problems has been non-acquisition of corridors although proposals were sent. Since most of these critical patches are in areas which have witnessed mining and industrial activities, they needconservation. But it has not happened yet,’’ sources said. While the protection the corridors needed was ignored, the measures made by the State Government appear to go nowhere. Of the elephant 88 corridors that India has, 65 per cent of those in South India enjoy protected area(PA) status. In Orissa and other eastern India states, barely 10 per cent have PA status. “If the Orissa Government is so keen to improve the corridors and resurrect them, the first thing it can do it accord PA status to them while improving their condition,” said an insider. A number of corridors are faced with serious danger from urbanisation. The Karo-Karampada corridor in Keonjhar is threatened by a SAIL township, mining and heavy traffic movement and machinery. Now railway lines have invaded. The Rengali Irrigation Project has been a serious threat to the corridor. The 30-km Badampahar-Karida East corridor has severely fragmented with a national highway passing by. “Just announcing a plan will amount to paying lip service,’’ said a senior officer.