Every month, at least four to five elephants are being electrocuted in the State due to low hanging power lines of several discoms as WESCO, SOUTHCO, NESCO and CESU. Most deaths are found to take place during the months of October to December during the crop ripening season.
As per official reports, 107 elephants have been killed by electrocution alone during the last 10 years. Keonjhar where NESCO operates has accounted for the highest of 27 deaths. This is followed by a dozen in Sambalpur during the same period with WESCO as the discom. As per official elephant census, the figures have plummeted from 2,044 in 1979 to 1,886 in 2010.
In a recent survey conducted by the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO), member organisation of National Board for Wildlife, it was found power lines had sagged at 147 locations in the State.
“The complete list of the locations along with the GPS points were handed over to the Forest Department and the Energy Department two months ago just before the onset of crop season," pointed out Biswajit Mohanty, environmentalist and secretary WSO.
WSO had also sent this data to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, pointing to the alarming situation. The Ministry had issued letter in September, 2011 to the State Energy Department demanding strict action to ensure that power lines are not left hanging low. But nothing has been done to pull up these dangerous low hanging wires, he regretted fearing the loss of more elephants when they are likely to come in contact with these lines. Read the full report here.
Source: Moushumi Basu, The Pioneer, New Delhi.
