Korba: The discovery of a pachyderm's body in the forests of Korba, known as the energy capital of Chattisgarh, has sparked discussions on possible electrocution.
On getting information, the forest department swung into action and informed the media that the carcass of a 15-year-old elephant was recovered from the banks of a pond near Geetakunwari village. Department officials suspect that the elephant died due to electric shock although the post-mortem report is still awaited.
"At first glance, it seems that the elephant died due to an electric shock. The real reason will be known only after getting the post-mortem report," an official of the Korba Forest Department said.
Earlier, the body of an elephant was found in Balrampur where investigators revealed the death due to an electric shock from a live wire installed by a farmer around the field. Surguja CCF Matheshwaran B said it was revealed in the investigation that the farmer had installed high-voltage wires around his fields. The farmer said he had deliberately installed the wire to harm the elephant. Seeing the elephant near his field on Saturday, the farmer installed an electric wire at 4 pm on Sunday and the jumbo got electrocuted around 9 pm. Action is being taken as per the Wildlife Act, 1972 against him. Efforts will be made to mete out maximum punishment so that others refrain from doing such cruelty. The carcass of the elephant was buried following a postmortem.
On December 7, an elephant cub died in the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve of Gariaband after being injured by a potash bomb.
In a shocking revelation, more than 50 tuskers died in Chhattisgarh in the last four years and the majority of instances have been reported from Surguja, Korba, Balrampur, Surajpur, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts. There have also been reports of elephants dying due to elephant-human conflict as well.
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