Haati Path – Safe Passage for Elephants

In August 2020, the West Bengal Forest Department (Kurseong Division), in collaboration with Nature and Wildlife Association (NWA-India), launched  Haati Path – Safe Passage for Elephants , the first coordinated initiative of its kind in North Bengal to ensure safer elephant movement through critical corridors while enhancing the safety of nearby communities.

After a successful multi-stakeholder meeting involving the Forest Department, tea garden authorities, local administration, villagers, and NGOs, field teams were formed to identify and monitor key elephant movement routes. Equipped with headlamps and searchlights, these teams were trained to guide elephants safely back to forest habitats using scientific, non-invasive methods. The HEC Alert Mobile App developed by NWA was also introduced to improve real-time communication and elephant monitoring.

The initiative brought together local youth, civic police, tea garden management, NGOs, and government agencies under a common goal of promoting human-elephant coexistence. Haati Path marked a significant step toward collaborative, science-based human-elephant conflict mitigation in North Bengal.