Bhubaneswar- A fresh wave of concern has gripped Odisha after a five-year-old female elephant calf was found dead in the forests of Sambalpur district, allegedly electrocuted by a live wire used for illegal power hooking. The tragic incident occurred inside the Tikilipadar forest under Nakatideula range of the Rairakhol forest division, reigniting questions over wildlife safety and negligent electrification near forest zones.
Responding swiftly to the incident, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi expressed deep sorrow and ordered a high-level investigation. “Strict action will be taken against those responsible. No one will be spared,” he said, underlining his government’s zero-tolerance policy towards wildlife crimes.
According to forest officials, the elephant calf is believed to have come in contact with an electric wire suspected to be laid either for power theft or as part of an unauthorized solar fencing setup. The carcass was discovered early Saturday morning, with a suspicious solar wire found nearby. A team from the Forest Department is already probing the site to determine the exact cause of electrocution.
A high-powered team led by Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) and Joint Task Force Convenor Manoj V. Nair has been sent from Bhubaneswar to assess the ground situation. Officials from both the Forest and Energy Departments have reached the site and are jointly examining if the wire was illegally installed or a result of negligence.
This latest incident is not an isolated one. Just a day earlier, a female elephant was found dead in Angul district, suspected to have died from natural illness. However, the focus remains on the Nakatideula region, which has become a repeated hotspot for elephant deaths due to electrocution.
In the past eight months, the Burumala forest under the same division saw three elephants perish from electric shock. Another similar death was reported from Chahadapashi forest, indicating a pattern of dangerous electrification practices within the same forest belt.
Wildlife experts and conservationists are alarmed by the recurring nature of these incidents and are demanding stricter enforcement of safety regulations in forest-adjacent villages. With elephant corridors overlapping human settlements, the risk of such avoidable deaths remains high unless immediate and systemic changes are made.
As the state government gears up to investigate and fix responsibility, the death of yet another elephant calf serves as a grim reminder of the fragile balance between human expansion and wildlife conservation in Odisha.
