Elephants attack mining workers’ slums in Uttarakhand, 1 deaf labourer crushed

The deceased worker was deaf, therefore he couldn’t hear the noise and rush to safety. He was crushed by the elephants, said his brother.

One worker was killed and two others severely injured when an elephant herd in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district attacked the temporary slums of mining workers on Wednesday night.

A herd of elephants attacked slums of mining workers, killing one and injuring two others in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. (PTI Photo/Representative use)

“There are temporary slums of mining labourers along the Gaula river, which were attacked by wild elephants on Wednesday night. One person was killed and two were severely injured in the incident. A team from the forest department rushed to the spot after the locals informed them about the incident. The injured have been sent to Sushila Tiwari Hospital for treatment,” said Dhruv Singh Martolia, sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Goula region in Terai East forest division.

The deceased has been identified as 25-year old Bhuteli Kharwar, a resident of Patna, said forest officials. They added that Kharwar was deaf.

“Our department has sanctioned ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh for the deceased’s family and officials on patrolling have been advised to be more alert regarding elephant movement in the area,” said Martolia.

Aniruddh Kharwar, brother of the deceased, who got injured in the attack said, “We were sleeping in our tents when suddenly the elephants attacked, causing a stampede in our slum. My brother was deaf so he couldn’t hear the noise and did not come out of the slum and was crushed by the elephants.”

There have been a few deaths due to human-elephant conflicts in the region. On October 20, a wild elephant killed a 70-year-old man in Ramnagar. On September 8, an elephant had killed a 38-year-old man in Ramnagar.

Uttarakhand has 2,026 elephants, according to the latest elephant census. The aggression of elephants in Uttarakhand’s Corbett landscape, Rajaji National Park landscape and Tarai areas is becoming a major concern for wildlife officials.