A 65-year-old man was trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants on Sunday at Samachia line in Orangajuli Tea Estate Under Paneri police station in Udalguri district.
The victim, identified as Bolai Munda, retired as a tea estate worker. He was out in a grazing field at Samachia line of Orangajuli TE in when the incident occurred in the early morning on Sunday.
Munda is survived by his two sons, one daughter besides his wife.
Man-elephant conflict has taken an ugly turn along the Indo-Bhutan border villages in Udalguri district claiming as many as seven human lives and elephant this year.
“Destruction of forests and encroachment on elephant corridors have led to scarcity of food which has led to human as well as elephant causalities during the past two decades,” local wildlife activist Nabajyoti Baruah told Northeast Now.
The forest department even though has mopped up crores of revenues annually in the district alone has not been able to adopt any strategy to mitigate the menace.
Similarly, NGOs working in the fields has failed to chalk out any plans to curb the problem.
The human casualties mostly occur during the dry season when the animals move out of their habitat in search of food and water.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has voiced concern over the recent incident of a train mowing down five elephants in Sonitpur district, and directed the forest department to take concrete measures to solve the crisis.