One of the earliest projects of the Hati Bondhu campaign was to use bamboo poles to support sagging power lines in locations where the problem had remained undetected and unresolved. This was the elephant project's first conservation challenge in 2018. With a goal to facilitate safe passage for wild elephants in these areas, local communities were engaged to assist and tackle the matter after several failed attempts to negotiate and hold relevant authorities accountable. As its first major intervention, Hati Bondhu successfully raised 288 sagging electric lines in remote parts of Nagaon and surrounding villages along the slopes of Karbi Anglong, Assam - all with the help of local volunteers and community leaders. The effort was a success as it played a key role in reducing elephant deaths caused by electrocution in various troubled locations while also highlighting the issue of Human- Elephant Conflict (HEC) in the area.

Following the project's initial success, a habitat restoration initiative using community plantations was launched in desolate areas to supplement the nutritional needs of elephants locally. On several occasions, elephants would stray towards neighboring villages in search of food due to depleting habitats and increased human encroachment, thereby resulting in hostility between communities and herds. To reduce negative interactions between the two groups and reinforce more positive sentiments towards elephants, local communities that were previously affected by human-elephant conflict were engaged in the allocated plantation areas and were actively part of the entire planning and implementation process. The project's operation and outcomes were successful as the community displayed cooperation, support, and dynamic participation in the habitat restoration program in both 2018 and 2019.

As the project proceeded with its operations, it became evident that effective conservation could not be accomplished without significant community involvement. People’s attitudes towards elephants needed to change in order to reduce hostility between both groups. As a result, Hati-Bondhu (Friends of Elephants), Assam organized itself into a collaborative non- profit organization of local communities and conservationists working together to promote the welfare of Asian elephants using holistic community-based interventions that encourage co-existence between locals and wild elephants in the region.