Wild elephant tramples man to death in Chhattisgarh's Korba

A 53-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant while heading to his agricultural field in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, a forest official said Sunday,  August 2.

The incident occurred Saturday near Badmar village in the Jhokia Patra forest area. The official said Jageshwar Rathiya, who had to pass through the forest to reach his farmland, came face to face with the elephant, which trampled him to death.

Forest personnel rushed to the scene and sent the body for a post-mortem examination. His wife, Leela Bai Rathiya, was provided immediate relief of Rs 25,000, with the remaining compensation of Rs 5.75 lakh to be released after completion of formalities, the official said.

"Two elephants and another herd of nine elephants are currently roaming in different parts of Korba forest division. Despite repeated alerts and preventive measures by the forest department, a minor lapse in caution by the farmer proved fatal," the official said.

The forest department has been making regular public announcements in villages to alert residents about elephant movement and has created WhatsApp groups to share real-time information. Drones are being used to monitor elephant movement, while villagers have also been connected through the "Sajag" mobile application to receive continuous updates, the official added.

Human-elephant conflicts in districts including Surguja, Raigarh, Korba, Surajpur, Jashpur and Balrampur in the northern part of the state have been a major cause of concern for the past decade and a half. On July 11, two villagers, including a woman, were killed in separate elephant attacks in Raigarh district. Earlier, a 55-year-old man was trampled to death while collecting wild mushrooms in a Korba forest on July 9. A 40-year-old cattle herder was killed in Korba on June 28, while a 70-year-old woman died in another elephant attack in the district on June 23.

According to forest department data, more than 335 people have been killed in elephant attacks in Chhattisgarh over the past five years. The state has also witnessed significant elephant mortality, with around 10 calves dying in the Dharamjaigarh forest division of Raigarh district over the past year. Overall, more than 45 elephants have died from various causes across Chhattisgarh over the last two-and-a-half years, officials said.