Keonjhar: Elephant deaths continued unabated in Odisha with Forest Department officials recovering Monday carcasses of a female pachyderm and a calf from Kalapata reserve forest near Kuliapala village under Telkoi range in Keonjhar district. The matter came to the fore when locals had gone inside the forest. They found stench emanating from somewhere and informed the Forest department officials who rushed to the spot and found the two carcasses. The cause behind the death of the two elephants is yet to be ascertained.
On being informed, DFO HD Dhanraj, Telkoi Forest Ranger Shivaji Mohan Rao and other officials visited the spot and started an investigation. Notably, crores of rupees are being spent to track the movement of elephants through GPS for the protection of the animals. The government has also appointed hundreds of officials for proper discharge of work.
Everyday, members of the elephant squad, foresters and forest guards report about the presence of elephants in their area through a mobile app. So it is a matter of concern that the carcasses went unnoticed for close to two weeks. Animal lovers have expressed doubts regarding the authenticity of reports over elephant movements.
Locals alleged that Forest officials file reports without properly tracking the movement of elephants. Such negligence on part of the officials has been observed earlier too, but no disciplinary action has been taken in this regard. The recovery of the carcasses of two more elephants is an example of such negligence, they alleged. They also alleged that tracking of elephants has taken a backseat as the persons designated for the job are being used for other chores including office work. Some of them are also used by their superiors as domestic help. Reports said that the decomposed carcass of an elephant was recovered from the same Kalapata reserve jungle, June 26.
Few months back, two elephants were electrocuted at a place under Sadar forest range. Six elephants died in the Keonjhar forest division in 2021-22 and so far in 2022-23 an identical number of deaths have been reported. Environmentalists have pointed out that elephants must be protected at any cost. Notably, there are around 125 elephants in seven forest ranges under Keonjhar division.
