Guwahati: Elephant Monitors Assam has urged the Tamulpur district administration to initiate criminal action against the use of illegal high-tension electric fencing and lethal trenches, citing repeated deaths of wild elephants in the district and adjoining areas of Assam’s north bank.
In a detailed petition submitted to the District Commissioner of Tamulpur, the organisation said the continued installation of high-voltage electric fences, unsafe power lines and man-made barriers along known elephant corridors has led to the killing of several elephants, a Schedule I species under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022, while also posing grave risks to human life and public safety.
Tamulpur, located along the Indo–Bhutan border, is a recognised elephant landscape where herds of 50 to 60 elephants regularly move through traditional corridors, often passing close to human settlements. Elephant Monitors Assam said human–elephant conflict has intensified sharply between 2023 and 2025 across Tamulpur, Udalguri and other north bank districts, resulting in multiple elephant deaths due to electrocution from illegally connected high-voltage fences and unsafe power lines, as well as injuries and fatalities caused by trenches and other lethal obstructions.
Citing official data and conservation studies, the organisation said illegal electric fencing has emerged as the single largest cause of elephant deaths in Assam over the past two decades. More than 200 elephants have reportedly died due to electrocution since 2000, including at least 55 between 2019–20 and 2023–24 alone. Most such fences, it said, are illegally connected to 220-volt or 11 kV power lines drawn directly from Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) connections, instead of legally permitted, non-lethal solar fencing.
The petition highlighted what it described as a pattern of impunity, noting that despite repeated elephant deaths, convictions remain rare due to poor investigations, defective charge sheets and failure to invoke appropriate provisions of wildlife and electricity laws. It also pointed to the lack of technical evidence, including seizure of fencing materials, examination of power connections, and timely forensic and post-mortem reports.
Similar patterns, the organisation said, are evident in Udalguri and other north bank areas, where multiple elephants have died in recent years after coming into contact with high-voltage wires around agricultural fields and tea estates. The absence of deterrent punishment in such cases has generated public anger and heightened the risk of further killings in Tamulpur, it added.
In Tamulpur alone, Elephant Monitors Assam said one elephant calf died in Khoirani in 2025, while another elephant was shot during a drive-out operation last year. It also cited the killing of an elephant by poachers near the Indo–Bhutan border in the Chitka Jan area and noted that five people were trampled to death by elephants in 2025, with two more fatalities reported in February this year.
The organisation said the installation of illegal electric fencing and trenches violates multiple provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, the Electricity Act, 2003, and relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, apart from constitutional obligations to protect wildlife. It also referred to Supreme Court and High Court rulings that have held electrocution deaths of elephants to be serious criminal offences requiring robust investigation and prosecution.
Among its demands, Elephant Monitors Assam called for mandatory registration of FIRs in all elephant death or injury cases where electrocution or illegal fencing is suspected. It also sought the constitution of a special investigation team involving district police, forest officials and APDCL engineers to review recent cases, ensure scientific investigation and file strong charge sheets.
The group further urged the district administration to conduct a joint survey to identify and dismantle illegal high-tension fences and dangerous trenches along elephant movement paths, and to initiate criminal proceedings against those responsible. It also called for regular monitoring of cases, training of investigating officers in wildlife crime and electricity-related offences, and stronger coordination between district authorities, forest officials and power utilities.
Requesting that the petition be treated as a formal complaint for the registration of cognisable offences, the organisation sought an action-taken report within 30 days. It said it was willing to share field documentation and assist authorities in strengthening investigations to ensure future prosecutions lead to convictions.