An elephant died due to electrocution near Mukundpur Safari on the margins of Maihar and Shahdol districts in Madhya Pradesh on Friday morning.
This is the 12th unnatural elephant death reported from the state in the last month. The adolescent elephant was part of a herd that had entered the state from neighbouring Chhattisgarh about a week ago. The wild mammals were reportedly making their way towards Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) from the Sanjay Tiger Reserve when tragedy struck.
“There is movement of elephants in Shahdol district. Last Thursday night, the people of the area chased away the elephants by bursting crackers, due to which they came towards Majhatolwa Kuan village in Ramnagar. All the elephants left, but one elephant got separated from them and was roaming the village alone,” forest ranger Digvijay Singh said.
“An 11kV electric line was passing over the field in Majhatolwa village, a border village between the two districts. The elephant’s trunk came into contact with the electric line, and it died on the spot. The dead elephant was spotted by villager Santosh Dwivedi on Friday morning. He informed the forest officials and police,” he added.Dwivedi said that villagers' complaints against the dangerous electricity lines passing over the fields had fallen on deaf ears.
