A day after an elephant was found electrocuted in a mango orchard in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, another tusker died after coming in contact with high tension wire in Ganjam district on Monday.
Since April 1, at least 13 elephants have died in Odisha due to electrocution and poaching.
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District forest officials said the tusker, aged between 20--25 years, was likely to have come in contact with a 11 KV electric wire in a cashew orchard near Dhaupalli village under North Ghumsur forest division in Ganjam district. The carcass of the elephant was spotted by local residents on Monday.
“There is a sagging 11 KV power transmission line that passes through the orchard. The elephant, part of an eight-member herd, may have touched the electric line while searching for food,” said Sudarshan Badi, assistant conservator of forest of North Ghumsur forest division.
On Sunday, a tusker was similarly electrocuted in a mango orchard at Gobindaprasad village under Sadar forest range of Dhenkanal district. Though people claimed the elephant died after coming in contact with the solar fencing around the orchard, forest officials said the farmer must have charged the fence with high voltage since the fence doesn’t normally carry enough voltage to kill a huge animal like an elephant. The orchard owner was later arrested.
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“We are waiting for the post-mortem report. Action will be taken based on the post-mortem report,” assistant conservator of forest Rashmiranjan Swain said.
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“We are waiting for the post-mortem report. Action will be taken based on the post-mortem report,” assistant conservator of forest Rashmiranjan Swain said.
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Since April 1, at least 13 elephants have died in Odisha due to electrocution and poaching.
Wildlife conservationists claim Odisha has turned deadly for elephants. “Many are getting killed as they cross human habitations to find food. The vast forests have been reduced to tiny forest patches with very little left for elephants,” alleged wildlife conservationist Biswajit Mohanty.
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.
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