Assembly Data Highlights Rising Human and Elephant Deaths
Human-elephant conflict
There is a discussion about increasing human-elephant conflicts in the state in the Budget Session of Assam Legislative Assembly.
The Forest and Environment Minister, Jayanta Malla Baruah, gave some details in this regard on Tuesday.
According to him, 1,147 people lost their lives because of the conflict in the past decade.
Moreover, 246 elephants also died in the same time period.
This information was provided by him in response to a question asked by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed in the Assembly.
According to him, electrocutions and railway accidents were the reasons for elephant deaths.
Consequently, the problems keep challenging the administration of the state.
As per official statistics, 138 people died in 2025.
Further, 53 people died in 2026 till date.
Some of the forest divisions affected severely due to the issue include Buxa, Dhansiri, Nagaon, Sonitpur West, Goalpara, and Golaghat.
Goalpara was the worst division in terms of human deaths.
The district has seen 195 deaths since 2016.
Like this, Dhansiri has seen 143 deaths during this period.
Electrocution, trains, and poisoning led to death of 246 elephants in the last ten years.
Maximum number of elephants was killed in 2017 that is 42.
Number of deaths of elephants in 2025 is 36.
In addition to it, 27 elephants were killed in 2024.
There have been five deaths of elephants in 2026 so far.
Four elephants died by electrocution.
At the same time, one elephant was shot by poachers.
The minister pointed out extensive forest encroachments.
Total area of reserved forest lands in Assam is 18,33,592 hectares.
But till February 2026, 3,15,997 hectares is under encroachment.
25,588 hectares has been cleared by authorities with the help of eviction drives.
In addition to it, 33 elephant corridors adjacent to railways were found.
Solar fencing has been installed in such areas.
However, it has not helped to end the problem.
Forests comprise 36.1% of total geographical area of Assam.
Human-elephant conflict
