In the ongoing budget session of the Assam Assembly, Assam’s jumbo problem – ever-escalating man-elephant conflict – once again reflected its grim picture when Assam Environment and Forest Minister Jayanta Mallabaruah on Tuesday informed the assembly on Tuesday that human-elephant conflict has claimed 1,147 human lives and 246 elephants in Assam over the past decades.
The Forest Minister said electrocution and train accidents remain the leading causes of elephant deaths, highlighting the continuing challenge of reducing human-wildlife conflict.
In a written reply to a question by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, Jayanta Mallabaruah said 2025 recorded the highest annual human toll, with 138 deaths linked to human-elephant conflict. So far this year, 53 people have died.
The state recorded 116 deaths in 2023, 115 in 2018, 112 in 2022, 110 in 2024, 109 in 2019, 108 in 2021, 99 in 2017, 98 in 2016 and 89 in 2020.
The worst-affected forest divisions over the past decade include Baksa, Dhansiri, Nagaon (T), Sonitpur West, Goalpara, Golaghat, Kamrup East, Kamrup West and Karbi Anglong East.
The minister also stated that 246 elephants died in the state during the same period due to causes including electrocution, train accidents and poisoning. The highest number of elephant deaths was reported in 2017 at 42, followed by 36 in 2025 and 27 in 2024.
Mallabaruah said Assam has a total of 18,33,592.84 hectares of reserved forests and protected areas. As of February 12, 2026, encroachment covered 3,15,997.1251 hectares.
He further informed the House that eviction drives conducted between 2015-16 and 2025-26 had reclaimed 25,588.7656 hectares of forest land.
Goalpara has reported the highest toll at 195 human deaths since 2016, followed by the Dhansiri Forest Division with 143.
Elephant deaths have continued despite measures such as deployment of forest personnel, installation of solar fencing and identification of 33 elephant corridors along railway tracks. Five elephant deaths have been reported this year, including four due to electrocution and one due to poaching.
Citing the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), the minister said Assam’s forest cover stood at 28,313.55 square kilometres in 2023, accounting for 36.1 per cent of the state’s geographical area. This marked a marginal increase from 28,105 square kilometres, or 35.83 per cent of the geographical area, recorded in 2017.
