Female elephant electrocuted to death in Chirang; 6 so far since August

Chirang: In yet another recurrence of elephant-human conflicts in Assam, a 20-year-old pregnant elephant died due to electrocution on Wednesday in the Sikajhora village of Chirang district. According to reports, the pregnant elephant died near Manas National Park. Speaking of the incident, Chirang Divisional Forest Officer Brahmananda Patiri said, "A pregnant elephant was electrocuted at Sikajhora Village. Our team got to know about it at 3 am on Wednesday."

Taking note of the frequent deaths of elephants, Patiri further informed that the recent death of the pregnant elephant took the count of elephants killed in similar incidents since August to 6. "At least five elephants have been electrocuted in Chirang alone since August. Villagers steal power to electrify their fences to prevent elephants from destroying their paddy fields," said Gautam Talukdar, Deputy Commissioner, Chirang district.

It is worth mentioning that due to the damages caused by elephants to the crop, fields and properties in the rural areas, villagers have resorted to electrocuting their fences and thereby causing the disheartening instances of elephant deaths. It has also come to notice that most of these electrocutions are done with stolen electricity and authorities have already taken some action in this regard. DFO Patiri informed that seven people have been held for the earlier five elephant deaths in the district. However, the culprits in the three cases are absconding. "We are in touch with Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) and 29 transformers have been disconnected in the area, as per provisions of electricity rules (regarding improper use of power connections)," he said.

 While some of the Forest officials also mentioned harboured resentments and deliberate sentiments behind these killings, a lot of other animals including pigs, wild boars and deer end up dead or hurt too. Partnering with the local electricity departments, various initiatives have been taken to raise awareness among villagers to stop these incidents. According to Patiri, banners have been put up and records of illegal encroachers have been kept to prohibit their power supply. 

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