Keonjhar: Notwithstanding a plethora of measures by the forest department to protect elephants in Keonjhar, there has been no respite in the deaths of animals in the mineral-rich district. The casualties of the animals due to poaching, electrocution, road accidents shook the conscience of Krushna Chandra Nayak, a retired lecturer. He felt the need for creating public awareness about the need for protection and safety of animals whose population is gradually declining.
In January 2019, he built a 35-ft tall memorial pillar in memory of an elephant which got electrocuted on a paddy field at Jali village under Champua block. The pillar is called ‘Hati Minar.’
He donated five acres of land to develop the site into a children’s park and planted 30,000 saplings for a herbal garden.
It may be noted that a tusker came wandering into a paddy field of Nayak September 7, 2009, but no sooner did it reach the paddy field of Naik to feed on the ripe paddy after quenching its thirst at the nearby river, then it raised its trunk to touch the sagging high tension power lines. Within seconds it fell to the ground. The forest department had cut off its tusks and buried its carcass there.
Nayak’s mother was deeply shocked by its death and asked him to do something memorable for the elephant. “My mother was too shocked about the elephant dying on our field. She asked me to build a memorial for the dead elephant on our paddy field where it died. She was so heartbroken over the death that she did not take food for next 2-3 days,” said Dr Krushna Chandra Naik.
He fulfilled his mother’s wish and built the pillar. People from far and wide visit the memorial, but no step has been taken to accord it a tourism status.
Locals demanded that the state government should develop this place as an elephant memorial. Locals said their area will be developed if the memorial is developed with various facilities.
There are over 100 elephants in Keonjhar forest division. In the current year, four elephants have died while the animals are reportedly facing a habitat loss. The destruction of elephant habitats has seen rising human-elephant conflicts over the years.
Their corridors were damaged and there is an urgent need for their protection, observed environmentalist Ramesh Chandra Mishra.
PNN