RANCHI: Two Rescue Centres are being developed by officials in Saranda forests for the treatment of wild elephants injured by IED blasts.
Notably, elephants were killed in several IED blasts in the Saranda forest within the last one year. The latest incident took place late in the evening on Thursday, when a wild elephant injured in an IED blast finally succumbed to its injuries during treatment. This incident has heightened concerns among the forest officials and wildlife enthusiasts.
Forest officials believe that the elephant could have been saved, had the necessary facilities been accessible in the jungles.
Talking to The New Indian Express exclusively, Saranda Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Aviroop Sinha, informed that they have taken initiative after the recent blasts which they attribute to Maoist activity in the region.
“Given the fact that the IEDs are there and elephants cannot be restricted to any particular area, we are developing two elephant rescue centers, popularly known as kraal, so that they could be treated properly if they get injured in the IED blasts,” said the DFO.
Here, the elephants, which sometimes get violent after injury, are kept in an iron cage and provided proper treatment, he added.
The DFO informed that one such facility is developed at Anandpur and another at Noamundi.
Meanwhile, a Rescue Centre has already been set up in Jamshedpur near Dimna Lake, he said.
Besides that, forest officials have also deployed a Medical Rescue Truck and two Medical Vans for the treatment of injured elephants on the spot.
“Now, we also have a fully trained and dedicated team of doctors to deal with any kind of injury to the elephants, without any outside support,” said Sinha.
The DFO further informed that six elephants have been injured so far in IEDs, planted by Maoists in Saranda forests during the last one year, out of which five succumbed to their injuries in Jharkhand, while the remaining one wandered towards Odisha and died.
Notably, Maoists are now restricted only to Saranda jungles in Jharkhand as they have been whipped out from other pockets of the state.
According to an estimate, around 45 Maoists are supposed to be hiding in Saranda jungles, where they have planted thousands of IEDs, which has become a challenge for the security forces.
Now, IEDs planted by Maoists in Saranda jungles is not a challenge only for the security forces, but it has become a potential threat to the wild animals also.
The recurring deaths of elephants caused by IED blasts in the Saranda forest have raised grave concerns regarding wildlife safety in the region and the persistent threat posed by explosive devices within forest areas.
