4th September 2018

Whoever discovered electricity couldn’t have imagined that the transmission line to carry power to those who need it could someday cause death, both of humans and animals. Most humans at least know about the dangers of touching a power transmission line. But animals are blissfully unaware of the inherent danger. The rapid and inexorable spread in electrification over the years has seen power lines encroach into animal habitats, putting animals in grave danger of getting electrocuted. And no animal is at greater risk from power lines than the biggest of them all: the elephant. Its mammoth size means it is more likely to come in contact with live wire and die in the process than any other animal.

Eight elephant deaths in the last eight months – and three in a span of 48 hours last week alone – due to electrocution gives a fair idea about the gravity of the threat that the pachyderm faces from power lines in Odisha. About 15% of all elephant deaths in Odisha are due to electrocution, which accounts for 42% of all deaths due to unnatural causes. Here are some more chilling figures that put the issue in clearer perspective. As many as 170 elephants have been killed in the state due to electrocution since 2000, 93 of them since 2010. More worryingly, 59 of these 93 deaths were caused by live wire traps set by poachers. (Source: Wildlife Society of Odisha). Ironically, far from coming down, elephant deaths actually increased after the government started earmarking funds to fix sagging power lines since 2010. This can mean one of two things; either the funds sanctioned remain unused or have not been used for the purpose for which they were sanctioned in the first place.

The saddest part of the story is that a vast majority of elephant deaths are eminently preventable if only the officials are willing and able to enforce existing rules. Power distribution companies routinely violate Central Electricity Authority (CEA) guidelines on laying and maintenance of 11X33 KV transmission/distribution lines in wildlife habitats while the norm of having overhead power lines at a minimum height of 5.5 meters from the ground is rarely observed. Sagging lines are seldom reported to the discoms and are not acted upon even when they are.

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