28 Oct 2019



A female elephant was electrocuted on the night of October 27 after it reportedly came in contact with a livewire trap laid by farmers in Bagharatola forest under Rourkela forest division in Odisha’s Sundargarh district.

The body of the elephant was spotted by local residents on the morning of October 28. They in turn informed forest officials, Odisha chief wildlife warden and principal chief conservator of forests, HS Upadhyaya, said.

The area has witnessed the deaths of some villagers and widespread damages to houses and crops by elephants in recent years. It is suspected that the electric wires were used as fencing to protect farmlands from the intrusions of elephants.

The officials of the electricity department committed gross negligence while laying electric wires through sanctuaries and forests in the state. They should have enveloped the electric wires passing through forests according to the guidelines of the government, the forest officer added.

On June 10 this year, three elephants were electrocuted in the Borapada forest of Dhenkanal district.

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