.........DHENKANAL: Orissa continues to be the graveyard for elephants. Two more jumbos have got electrocuted in Hindol and Athagarh in the last 24 hours as per reports.


A sagging transmission line reportedly claimed the life of a tusker in Dhenkanal’s Hindol, whereas the second incident at Athagarh is said to be a deliberate act.

This year alone, nine elephants have fallen victim to electricity lines as yet. And, with the cropping season ahead, more casualties cannot be ruled out.

According to reports, the elephant electrocuted in Hindol’s Charanapur was 25 years old which came in contact with a 11 KV wire going over the village and died on the spot. The tragic incident occurred in the backyard of a villager Pitai Sahoo.

Locals said a herd of 22 elephants was roaming in and around Nijigarh gram panchayat and destroyed crops on Sunday night. All the jumbos but one managed to leave the field. The tusker was struck by the live wire and died on the spot.

Forest officials headed by DFO SK Dalai rushed to the spot while panic-stricken villagers urged them to shift the carcass lest other elephants may attack. Action will be taken after a joint verification, said Dalai.

Meanwhile, the other casualty occurred in Athagarh in the vicinity of a steel plant. Sources said, the elephant seemed to have walked into a place where the fences were charged with electricity. Details are awaited.

Beginning 2001-02, at least 80 elephants have been electrocuted in the State. Of every five dead elephants, one has died after coming in contact with live wire. The issue had raised concern with Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh shooting off a letter to the State Government over rising incidence of electrocution in the State.

‘Gajah,’ report of the Elephant Task Force under the Ministry, has also pointed at the concern. It said that funds allocated to clear the vegetation along the line to prevent electrocution of animals remain either unused or even misused.

The report called for compensation from the Power Grid Corporation and NTPC in case of electrocution due to high voltage wire. Besides, prosecution of landowner of agricultural land where an elephant dies of electrocution will prevent such recurrences, it suggested.

Seeking incentivisation, the report said the Power Grid company should come with an award scheme for people informing sagging power lines and poles so that such accidents are prevented.