ROURKELA: Cruel fate doubled up with abject poverty to prematurely end two tender lives from blossoming when a marauding wild tusker razed their house made of twigs and polythene the ground and trampled two little sisters aged three and 12 years late on Saturday night in Bonai Forest Division (BFD) of Sundargarh district.
The incident occurred at Mundabasti of Kantapali village in Gurundia block of Tamra range under BFD around 11.30 pm on Saturday, while separately in another elephant attack in the same night a youth was killed in Sol of Tamra range of BFD.
This apart a contractual elephant tracker was critically injured in elephant attack inside Rushimath forest of Tamra range of BFD on Friday evening.
Gurundia Sarpanch Pravakar Munda said around 11.30 pm on Saturday a single marauding tusker demolished the makeshift house made of twigs, earth and polythene sheets, adding during the incident a woman, her three children and elderly father-in-law were present.
She said while the old man walking with stick and the woman with her seven-years-old child somehow escaped to safety her two daughters aged three and 12 years met tragic end under the feet of the tusker.
The Sarpach described it as a most tragic and unfortunate incident, adding the victim family lived in abject penury and their makeshift house neither could provide protection from elephants or chilling winter night. Gurundia police and Gurundia police on Sunday seized the bodies for autopsy.
A local forest official on condition of not being identified said the marauding tusker of the Koida forest range of BFD travelling through the forests of Rourkela Forest Division (RFD) entered the Gurundia of BFD and caused the havoc, adding the tusker later moved on to a forest of Gurundia.
In the other incident on Saturday night at Tukura village of Tamra range of Gurundia under BFD on a youth Rajesh Munda was trampled to death by an elephant when he came out of his house.
Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF) P Ramaswamy described the death of two children as most unfortunate, adding before the incident elephant squad was present near the site, yet the tragic incident occurred.
He said elephant tracking and early warning system across vulnerable areas of Tamra range and BFD would be strengthen, adding efforts are also underway to use latest technologies to monitor elephant movements.
He said the contractual forest worker accompanied by others had gone inside the forest to install trap cameras when he was attacked and injured, adding instruction has been issued to all to strictly follow safety protocols and get information about elephant presence through drone cameras before entering forests.
With three more deaths in a single night the total human casualties in elephant attacks rose to 11 in BFD limits in this calendar year 2024.
Meanwhile, with death of an under-treatment villager Nane Dhanwar (54) on December 10 at a hospital at Rourkela the death toll in elephant attack in RFD in 2024 has risen to 12.
