NGT slaps fine over electrocution of elephants in Odisha

Two months after seven elephants were electrocuted by a sagging power line in Dhenkanal district of Odisha, the NGT slapped an additional penalty of Rs 40 million on the state’s Central Electrical Supply Undertaking (CESU).

Nearly two months after seven elephants were electrocuted by a sagging power line in the highly-industrialised Dhenkanal district of Odisha, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) today slapped an additional penalty of Rs 40 million on the state’s Central Electrical Supply Undertaking (CESU) for its lackadaisical attitude towards safety of both humans and animals.

Elephants eat their breakfast as they listen British volunteer Paul Barton plays piano for sick, abused, retired and rescued elephants in sanctuary along Thailand Myanmar border in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, December 9, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/Files (REUTERS)

This brings the total penalty up to Rs 50 million since October. The principal bench of NGT headed by its chairman, Justice Adarsh Goel imposed the fine. In October, NGT had registered a case against CESU after taking a suo-motu cognizance of media reports and had already imposed a fine of Rs 10 million.

On October 26, seven elephants were electrocuted when they came in contact with a carelessly-laid cable supplying power to a railway construction site from an 11 KV line in the Dhenkanal Sadar forest.

One of the elephant cows was pregnant with a 18-month unborn foetuswhich officials found after cutting open her belly. Though wildlife officials had intimated CESU earlier, no action was taken.