An adult elephant died last night due to electrocution near Garhchuk in Guwahati.
The death of the 4-ft tall elephant after coming in contact with an electric wire has drawn reactions from nature lovers.
Most of the people have not taken the incident of the death of the elephant due to negligence on the part of the elephant department easily.
The elephant was just 4-ft tall but there are elephants in Assam which are more than 9-ft tall.
Also read: Assam: Goalpara grapples with rising man-elephant conflict
Questions have been raised about powerlines being connected at a too lower height in an area used by elephants for movement.
Talking to Northeast Now, the divisional forest officer (DFO) of Kamarup (East) Division, Rohini Ballav Saikia, said the forest department has taken the matter seriously.
“I have talked to the deputy commissioner about the incident. We have taken the matter seriously. We have already sent a letter to the APDCL. Such negligence on the part of the power department has been observed in the suburbs of the city,” said DFO Saikia.
Also read: Facebook struggles with hate speech, misinformation, celebrations of violence in India: Report
The DFO also informed that the forest department is looking into the matter of the death of the elephants due to electrocution.
There are many instances of elephant deaths due to electrocution in various other states where the courts warned the authorities concerned.
Last year, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) criticised the power department of Tamil Nadu for death of elephants due to electrocution and also took cognizance of the case.
On Sunday, an adult elephant died due to electrocution in Goalghat.
According to reports, the 18-year-old elephant died as it came in contact with an electric wire of 11 KV in Dholagaon. Marks of burn injuries were seen on the body of the elephant.
Nature lovers have demanded a proper probe into the negligence on the part of the power department.
(Report filed by Rajen Sharma)