Gaj Yatra Rolled Out from Meghalaya

In the North-East, the Gaj Yatra has been rolled out by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) from Tura, the principal town of Garo Hills of Meghalaya on May 28, 2018. It is the part of an 18-month-long national campaign to protect India’s national heritage animal “elephants” and its habitat. The event involves taking an elephant mascot across districts frequented by jumbo herds for generating awareness among the people.

The aim of the campaign is to involve people from all walks of life in the conservation of elephants. The WTI is securing 101 elephant corridors through its Right to Passage project, in partnership with the Union government’s Project Elephant, state forest departments and various NGOs. The aim is to rehabilitate people affected “by conflict in corridor areas” while ensuring uninterrupted movement of elephants between key habitats. Earlier, the campaign was launched by the Dr. Harsh Vardhan on the occasion of 2017 World Elephant Day (WED) in New Delhi.