Tusker electrocuted in Keonjhar

Keonjhar: A couple of days after two elephants were found dead in Ghumusara area in Ganjam, an elephant was reportedly electrocuted at Basantpur Jadipadasahi under Champua forest range in Odisha’s Keonjhar district on Sunday.

According to sources, carcass of the tusker was found entwined in high tension wires, indicating that it could have died due to electrocution. The 11 KV wires were also found hanging precariously low in the area.

The forest department claimed that it had earlier alerted officials of the energy department about the low hanging electric wires, , but no step was allegedly taken in this regard, leading to its electrocution.

In August 2022, two elephants were electrocuted on the OUAT campus under the Keonjhar Sadar range.

These incident have exposed a glaring lack of coordination between forest, energy and other government agencies in securing elephants’ movement.

Notably, the state reports one of the highest numbers of elephant electrocution in the country.