Chhattisgarh elephant death: Deputy ranger, forest guard suspended

Two forest officials including a forest guard were suspended in connection with the death of a wild elephant in the Karanjawar forest of Pratappur. A show-cause notice has also been issued to the deputy ranger for alleged dereliction of duty.

Surguja (Chhattisgarh):The Chhattisgarh forest department has suspended two forest officials including a forest guard in connection with a death of a wild elephant in the Karanjawar forest of Pratappur whose carcasses was found a month later. A show-cause notice has also been issued to the deputy ranger for alleged dereliction of duty.

It may be noted that the skeleton of an elephant was found on 11 May in RF 36 of Karanjwar forest of Pratappur under Surajpur district.

The carcass of the elephant was found on 11 May in RF 36 of Karanjwar forest of Pratappur under Surajpur district.

According to the officials, the concerned officials were allegedly unable to collect information about the death of the elephant when the place was just four Kilometres away from the forest headquarters. The officials also did not try to ascertain the death of the elephant.

The remains of the elephant were buried and the forest Department officials neither tried to find out the cause of the death of the animal nor about its gender. Samples from the carcass were also not taken for examination after the remains of the elephant were found.

The state government has taken the matter seriously and has directed high officials to take action in this matter. Following the government's directive Deputy Ranger Vijay Kumar Srivastava, Forest Guard Mukesh Gupta, were suspended with immediate effect, allegedly indulged in serious negligence in duty.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar constituted a panel to investigate the deaths and directed the panel to submit its report in a month. The committee, led by retired principal chief conservator of forests K.C. Bevarta, is tasked with probing the reasons and circumstances leading to the death of the elephants, lapses at any stage, and determining accountability.

Since June 9, five elephants have died due to different reasons in four districts of the state.

In this connection, CM Bupesh Baghel issued necessary guidelines for the monitoring of wild animals in the state forests and improving measures for their conservation.

The chief minister directed the officials to develop veterinary hospitals at the Jungle Safari zoo in Raipur and Kanan Pendari zoo in Bilaspur, and ensure that they are fully equipped for the treatment of wild animals

He also instructed to shift doctors serving in the veterinary department to the forest department on deputation, and deploy them in 20 forest divisions where the density of wild animals is high.

Baghel also directed that 10-member teams be set up in each forest division affected by human-elephant conflicts, for continuous monitoring of the movement of elephants.

He also decided in the meeting to develop a mobile app for monitoring the working of the forest department's ground staff and officials and ensure their active presence in the field, he said.

As per state government estimates, between 2014-15 and 2018-19, 510 elephants and 2,361 humans were killed due to human-elephant conflicts. Several elephants die each year due to electrocution, train accidents, poaching and poisoning.