Odisha: Seven elephants electrocuted in Dhenkanal district

Kamalanga village in Dhenkanal district saw an unfortunate incident when seven elephants were electrocuted as they came in contact with a live wire on Saturday. According to forest officials, a herd of 13 jumbos was passing through the village in Sadar Forest Range when seven of them accidentally touched the wire which was 11-KV line, said Jitendranath Das, Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF).

The passing away of the elephants were not known till the villagers alerted the forest officials in the morning that carcasses of seven elephants, which included one tusker and five females. According to the ACF, sagging electric wire was the apparent reason for the accident that claimed the innocent animals’ lives.

Three carcasses were found lying on the road while four were inside a canal. The elephants were assumed to have taken place when the group of elephants was travelling towards the canal from the paddy field nearby.

Immediately on hearing the news, senior forest officials along with the Divisional Forest Officer of Dhenkanal Sudarsan Patra and ACF Das rushed to the spot and arranged for the carcasses to be shifted from the road, according to a forest official. The forest department is believed to have spoken to the energy department and asked them to direct the concerned agency that the wires be kept at a minimum height of 17-18 feet from the ground level to avoid such accidents.

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