KEONJHAR/BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident, two elephants were electrocuted on OUAT campus in Keonjhar under Keonjhar Sadar range on Thursday morning. Both were females and had given birth to calves less than a month back.
The two, about 25-year-old, were part of a group of nine elephants roaming Judia under Sanaghagara forests. For the past few days, the herd has been moving in this forest patch. On Thursday morning, it entered OUAT premises and two came in contact with 11 kV wire which led to their death. DFO HD Dhanral and Sadar Ranger Bijay Kumar Mahant rushed to the spot.
The incident has exposed a glaring lack of coordination among forest and energy departments in securing elephants’ movement and lives. The herd has been living in the region but no remedial measures were taken in advance.
Odisha has of late grabbed headlines over a spate of elephant deaths and suppression of the incidents in Sambalpur and Athagarh. Poaching too has been a cause of huge concern. Electrocution deaths though are not new. The State reports one of the highest numbers of elephant electrocution in the country. Out of 741 elephant electrocution deaths reported in the country in 10 years till December 2020, Odisha recorded the maximum 133.
Of the 86 jumbo deaths recorded in the State in 2021-22, nearly 20 per cent were caused by electrocution, sources in the Wildlife Wing of the Forest department said. Chief Wildlife Warden Sashi Paul couldn’t be reached for comments.
Forest officials, however, said Energy department had disbursed funds to the distribution companies in October last year to increase ground clearance of electrical transmission networks, replace bare conductors with aerial bunched cables (ABC) and cover wires in elephant movement paths and corridors to check electrocution death of the pachyderms.
Tata officials during a coordination meeting among Forest and Environment, Energy and TPCODL in May assured to complete rectification work by September, said an official.