A tragedy such as this has never happened before. Wildlife in Odisha, known for its forest tourism, is in danger. While a tigress that killed two persons has evaded the forest department’s tranquilliser, the death of as many as seven wild elephants in Dhenkanal lends a new dimension to the man-animal conflict. The forest and power departments have cut a sorry figure both in terms of tracking down the big cat and saving the jumbos.

In the case of the latter, the electricity authorities are primarily responsible, most particularly the Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU). The tragedy that befell the seven elephants, including a tusker and a calf, has been almost unprecedented. Horror of horrors, they were electrocuted by a sagging 11KV electricity line, which was barely five feet above the ground. By the same token, the electricity line was a threat to humans no less.

Despite several alerts, little or nothing was done to fix the power connection, specifically to ensure that the wires were raised to the stipulated height. Several letters from the forest to the power department were simply ignored. It thus comes about that a herd of 21 elephants had moved out of the forest towards a nearby paddy field when seven of them came in contact with the live wire and perished.

They had stepped out of the jungle in search of food, but alas were driven quicker to death. The power department and to smaller extent forest officials will have to accept that Saturday’s wildlife disaster would not have happened had they adopted corrective action in the face of a standing threat. The herd was moving around in the area for almost a week before the hideous happened. And yet, no action was taken by the forest department to drive them away to the jungle.

As recently as in September, there was a state-level coordination committee meeting where the inherent danger of sagging electricity lines, particularly in the elephant corridor and the “wild life movement areas” of Dhenkanal and Angul districts, was discussed with energy department officials. On 12 October, the Regional Chief Conservator of Forests, Angul, had asked the power supply authorities to undertake cabling work in the Tiger reserve area. Regretfully, corrective action is yet to be undertaken. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been remarkably swift in ordering an enquiry by the crime branch of the state police into the electrocution of elephants.

He has thus underlined the truth ~ that Dhenkanal bears witness to a forest crime. One official has been dismissed and six others suspended. The fact that the height of the power line was not raised despite official letters points to negligent nonchalance towards the movement of elephants in the forest area, recalling the manner in which many of them have been flung to death by speeding trains in the vicinity of forests in North Bengal. The elephant cries out for human care