DHENKANAL: Lack of support from electricity department claimed the life of another elephant in Dhenkanal district on Monday night.A tusker and a wild boar were electrocuted to death at Kadla village in Hindol after requests to the distcom to cut off power in the area allegedly went unheeded. The animals came in contact with live wires laid by poachers at Kadala under Karnapur forest beat which has earned notoriety for being a poaching hotbed.
DFO Praksh Chand Gogineni and his ground staff had informed electricity officials on Monday to snap power supply to the area after tracking the elephant’s movement. “I had requested the executive engineer of TPDCOL, Dhenkanal to switch off power in the area last night. Local forest officials also sought support of Meramandali section staff to cut off power supply as elephants were roaming in the area. However, electricity officials did not heed our requests which led to the electrocution deaths,” Gogineni told mediapersons.
On being informed by locals on Tuesday, forest officials rushed to the spot.The DFO said a meeting will be convened soon to improve coordination and cooperation between officials of forest and electricity department for the safety of wild animals.