Keonjhar: An official of elephant squad was trampled to death while driving an elephant herd into the forest near Jharbeda village in Naranpur section of Keonjhar sadar range late Wednesday night. The deceased has been identified as Basanta Mahanta (45) of Gobindapur village. The incident occurred when Basanta was engaged with other squad members in an operation to drive away an elephant herd. An atmosphere of fear and tension is gripping the area following the death. According to sources, a herd of six elephants had entered the farmlands near Jharbeda village and destroyed the paddy crop. Acting on a tip-off, Sadar Range officer Ajit Kumar Das along with the elephant squad staff went to the area to chase away the elephants.
During the operation, a tusker got separated from the herd and suddenly chased the forest staff. While all the forest officials ran away, Basant fell to the ground. The tusker dragged him with its trunk and trampled him. Later, Forest department personnel rescued him in a critical condition and brought him to Keonjhar district headquarters hospital, where the doctor declared him dead. “The tusker got separated from the group and attacked at once. He couldn’t pay attention to that. That’s why such an incident happened. Compensation will be given in case of crop loss.
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Therefore, villagers are being cautioned not to try to chase the herd away,” said Dhanraj HD, Divisional Forest Officer, Keonjhar. “Care will be taken to ensure that no untoward incident takes place further and the staff or common people are not harmed,” the DFO said. “The deceased elephant squad member will get an ex-gratia of Rs 1.52 lakh from the service provider and Rs 6 lakh from the government. The wife of the deceased will get a minimum pension of Rs 2,000 and their daughter will get Rs 500 per month once she turns 18,” he added. “The compensation amount is less than the actual losses forcing people to remain on guard always to protect their wealth and crops,” said Bhagirathi Nayak, a farmer and tribal leader. Sources said massive deforestation is taking place as there is no ban on illegal felling of trees.
Every year, more and more forest land is being used for non-forestry purposes such as mining operations. Also, an increase in elephant population in Keonjhar division has given rise to elephant-human conflicts. On the other hand, it is alleged that such incidents are occurring due to lack of proper training and management.