Pawan Kalyan Calls for Human-Elephant Coexistence
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan and Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh on Thursday called for a shift from human-elephant conflict to coexistence at a national conference in Visakhapatnam to mark World Elephant Day.
Pawan Kalyan, who also holds the Environment and Forests portfolio, said Andhra Pradesh was home to 132-142 wild elephants.
Recalling conflict incidents in Palamaner and Parvathipuram-Manyam, he said the State had signed an MoU with the Karnataka Forest Department, under which it received four kumki elephants and set up a training centre at Musalimadugu.
The kumkis have assisted in 15 conflict-mitigation operations, contributing to a 70 per cent reduction in human deaths and a decline in crop damage, he said. Andhra Pradesh has also started training its own kumkis, with one deployed near Parvathipuram.
“It is our privilege to transform human-elephant conflict into human-elephant coexistence,” Pawan Kalyan said, describing “from conflict to coexistence” as the State’s motto.
He also highlighted Project HANUMAN, launched in March 2026. Under the project, 93 response vehicles and seven wildlife ambulances have been deployed, helping rescue more than 200 wild animals.
More than 20 lakh students from 21,450 schools have participated in painting competitions, awareness programmes and plantation drives under a nationwide campaign, he said.
Singh outlined the Centre’s initiatives, including a genetic database of captive elephants, the Gaj Suchna mobile application and a field manual on conflict management prepared with the Wildlife Institute of India and WWF India.
The Centre has approved ₹500 crore under the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for elephant conservation, Singh said.
He also announced three new elephant reserves in Chhattisgarh’s Lemru, Tamil Nadu’s Agasthyamalai and Uttar Pradesh’s Terai.
Describing human-elephant conflict as a complex problem, Singh said there was no “one size fits all” solution. A five-year study by the Project Elephant Steering Committee has produced the first regional action plan for the southern States.
Three documents were released at the event: 30 Giant Steps, the Regional Action Plan for Southern India and a special issue of the Journal of Wildlife Science marking 30 years of elephant conservation in India.
Awards and certificates were presented to winners of painting and photography competitions and recipients of the Gaj Gaurav awards.
A national workshop on human-elephant conflict was held on August 12, bringing together forest officials, researchers and NGO representatives.
The event was attended by Environment Secretary Tanmay Kumar, Director General of Forests and Special Secretary Sushil Kumar Awasthi, Andhra Pradesh Principal Secretary for Forest and Environment Kantilal Dande, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests P.V. Chalapathi Rao, Project Elephant Steering Committee head Ramesh Kumar Pandey, and senior forest officials, scientists and environmentalists.