03 Nov., 2018


The recent electrocution of as many as seven elephants at Kamalanga of Dhenkanal district sparked off a countrywide indignation and calls for action against the guilty.

A week has passed. What has been the outcome? A few lower-level forest officers and some district-level electrical engineers and lower staffs of the Cesu have been suspended. Of course, a junior engineer of Cesu has been dismissed from service.

Imagine the outrage if seven human beings had died at the spot had they accidentally touched the sagging 11KV overhead power line. These engineers who were guilty of negligence or rather criminal negligence would have been booked and arrested for murder of the second degree caused by criminal negligence since their culpability was clear and visible.

The forest department had been regularly warning the district electrical officials as well as the Managing Director of Cesu about the sagging overhead wires in Dhenkanal since the last two years.

They had recommended insulated overhead wires for at least 136 running km where elephants regularly pass.

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