KEONJHAR: Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF), Rourkela Circle Arun Kumar Mishra on Tuesday placed under suspension two forest staff for negligence in connection with the death of two female elephants due to electrocution. They are town forester Pradeep Kumar Barik and forest guard Mitravanu Naik.
On August 25, the two elephants died after coming in contact with live wires on the OUAT campus under Keonjhar Sadar Range. As there was an LT line at a height of 24 metres, the elephants came in contact with the wires. While the 11 KV wire passing through the area was scattered through insulated cables, the 55-metre low-transmission (LT) line to Maligaon was not cabled.
In the last 10 years, 68 elephants have lost their lives, of which 15 died due to electrocution in the Keonjhar division.