North Lakhimpur: The fragile coexistence between humans and elephants along the Assam–Arunachal Pradesh state border has once again turned tragic. A 65-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in Balipukhuri village, near the inter-state border in Dorpang under Narayanpur Police Station of Lakhimpur district in the early hours of February 3.
The victim, Dharmeswar Das, reportedly stepped out of his house after learning that a wild elephant was rampaging through the village. In an attempt to drive the animal away from the settlement, he confronted it but was fatally trampled. Police later sent his body to Lakhimpur Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem.
This was followed by ransacking of the house of Maya Karki (45) on the early morning of February 20, by a wild jumbo in Rampur Kachajuli under Laluki Police Station of Lakhimpur district. Maya, a differently abled woman lost her entire house and stocks of rice to the jumbo that came down from the neighbouring hills of Arunachal Pradesh in search of food.
These incidents add to a growing list of fatalities and destruction caused by wild elephants in the border villages of Lakhimpur district, where human settlements increasingly overlap with traditional elephant corridors.
A pattern of tragedy
The Dorpang tragedy mirrors a similar incident that occurred nearly two years ago. On March 15, 2024, Dimbeswar Phukan (50) was trampled to death in Drupang village, also under Narayanpur Police Station. A herd of wild elephants had entered the village at midnight, smashing houses and granaries. As villagers attempted to chase them away, Phukan was caught and killed.
Villagers alleged that despite frantic calls, forest officials failed to respond during the attack. Their anger intensified the next morning when forest personnel arrived only after the damage had been done. Residents have repeatedly accused authorities of failing to implement effective measures to mitigate the elephant menace in the region.
Many locals claim that electric fencing erected on the Arunachal Pradesh side has redirected elephant movement toward Assam’s villages. Others blame rampant deforestation and large-scale extraction of earth from hills, which have destroyed natural habitats and forced elephants to seek food in human settlements.
Sleepless nights in Bhitoripam
In Bhitoripam village under Nowboicha Revenue Circle, sleepless nights have become routine. For years, residents of this inter-state border village have endured near-daily incursions by wild elephants, primarily from the nearby Ranga Reserve Forest.
On October 22, 2025, a herd of elephants ravaged the plantation of Keshab Nirola, uprooting areca nut, banana and pineapple crops during an hour-long rampage. Nirola, who had earlier shifted from paddy cultivation to areca nut farming to reduce losses, said elephant disturbances have worsened since the massive Ranganadi floods triggered by the hydroelectric dam in Arunachal Pradesh in 2008. Repeated elephant attacks have forced him to relocate his house several times.
Bhitoripam has witnessed a series of destructive episodes. On January 31, 2020, elephants destroyed several houses barely 100 meters from a forest camp. In July 2023, homes belonging to Tika Upadhyaya and Bogy Maya Rai were demolished. On New Year’s Day 2023, a herd destroyed the house of daily wage labourer Loka Maya Chetry. Even public infrastructure has not been spared — the kitchen of Rajgarh Gabhoru Tunijan ME School in nearby Kachajuli was wrecked in May 2024 after elephants feasted on rice meant for mid-day meals.
Villagers allege that local forest offices, including Kachajuli Forest Beat under Harmutty Forest Range, often respond with temporary measures such as firecrackers to scare the animals away, without offering lasting solutions.
Schools and public spaces on the receiving end
Educational institutions have also fallen victim to the escalating conflict. On December 9, 2024, a wild elephant emerging from Dulung Reserve Forest entered Rupahi Line LP School in Ukhamati near Ananda Tea Estate. The elephant broke through brick walls and damaged the mid-day meal kitchen in search of food, destroying classroom furniture and playground equipment.
The Dulung Reserve Forest contains the crucial Dulung-Subansiri elephant corridor, which experts say is increasingly threatened by roads, commercial establishments and hydroelectric activity, including the Subansiri Lower Hydroelectric Project at Gerukamukh. Conservationists warn that disruption of these corridors heightens the likelihood of elephants straying into settlements.
Workers at risk
Tea garden workers and forest-dependent communities are among the most vulnerable. On January 22, 2022, Kesari Bhuyan, a temporary worker at Koilamari Tea Estate, was trampled to death inside Kakoi Reserve Forest while collecting firewood. She had reportedly encountered a herd of elephants inside the forest and was chased before being killed.
Every year, several tea plantation workers in Lakhimpur lose their lives in similar encounters. Families of victims frequently demand compensation, but long-term preventive strategies remain elusive.
During the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, elephant movement intensified in rural Lakhimpur. A lone elephant roamed villages near Bogoli Reserve Forest and Shimaluguri for days, repeatedly returning to the area due to the presence of a domesticated female elephant and her calf. Despite joint operations by police and forest officials to push the animal back toward the Arunachal hills, it returned and even damaged a tractor used to transport food for the captive elephants.
In April 2020, more than a hundred elephants crossed Bhitoripam Nepali village en route to Bogoli Reserve Forest, triggering panic among residents who recalled earlier destruction of homes.
Shrinking habitats, fragmented corridors
The roots of the crisis lie in decades of habitat degradation. In 2015, the electrocution of an adult male elephant in Gopalpur village near Kakoi-Rajgarh Forest Beat highlighted the growing desperation of both villagers and wildlife. The elephant died after coming into contact with live electric wires connected to a bamboo barricade meant to protect paddy fields.
Experts point to encroachment on reserved forests, deforestation, expansion of tea plantations and infrastructure projects as major factors disrupting traditional elephant migration routes. Historically, elephants moved from Poba Reserve Forest in Dhemaji district to Ranga Reserve Forest in Lakhimpur, traversing riverine corridors along the Brahmaputra and its tributaries such as Subansiri and Ranganadi.
However, destruction of forests in Dirpai and Joypur inside Arunachal Pradesh and the construction of infrastructure linked to hydroelectric projects have severely narrowed these passages. As a result, elephants now encounter human settlements blocking their traditional paths to riverine grasslands rich in “elephant grass,” their preferred post-monsoon food.
On June 19, 2024 a male wild jumbo was found dead in Sonowalgaon of No. 1 Dhemagarh on Assam-Arunachal Pradesh boundary. The elephant met its end following consuming pesticides sprayed on standing paddy crops in the village.
According to conservation groups , fragmentation has split elephant populations into smaller, stressed units. Poaching for ivory and illegal killing for meat have further diminished their numbers. Wildlife experts note that elephants are protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and are listed as “Endangered” by the IUCN, underscoring the urgency of conservation.
Call for coordinated action
Residents of Lakhimpur’s border villages are demanding coordinated inter-state efforts between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh to restore elephant corridors, regulate encroachments and strengthen rapid response systems. They argue that sporadic interventions cannot address a crisis rooted in ecological imbalance.
Wildlife experts have previously recommended creation and expansion of protected areas in Lakhimpur and better management of elephant corridors. Yet, villagers say, meaningful implementation has lagged behind the mounting toll.
As Dharmeswar Das’s family mourns his loss, the tragedy in Dorpang stands as a grim reminder of a conflict that has simmered for years. Without comprehensive planning that balances conservation with community safety, both humans and elephants will continue to pay the price along the Assam–Arunachal frontier.