Traumatic accident / Never before ... 18 elephants die due to lightning in Assam

Never before has it been heard that one and a half dozen elephants have died due to thunderclap. In Assam, 18 elephants died on the night of May 12, ie on Wednesday. Of these, 14 elephant carcasses were found on the top of a hill, while the remaining four in the valleys below the hill. Lightning fell from the sky on Wednesday night in the proposed Kundoli Forest Reserve of Kathiotoli Range located in Nagaon district of Assam. Due to which, these elephants were killed.

Principal Chief Conservator of Assam Amit Sahai said that the accident took place atop a wooded hill near the Nagaon-Karbi Anglong border. This is a very remote and inaccessible area. It took 24 hours for the forest department team to reach. On the basis of preliminary investigation, it has been found that due to the lightning fall, these elephants suffered a sharp blow. Due to which he died.

On Friday, May 14, a team of Veterinary doctors has gone to this area to do post mortem of these elephants. Amit Sahai said that it is rare to see such a large number of elephants killed simultaneously. Since elephants are always in herds, this may be possible. They try to hide together whenever there is a storm or there is strong rain.

Amit Sahai said that I have asked the District Forest Officer (DFO) to investigate the matter further. They have also been asked to find out how many of them were males and how many females. It will take some time. DFO Binod Dulu Bora of Nagaon said that the forest department will do the post-mortem with the help of the Veterinary doctors. At present, the Forest Department team is conducting a departmental inquiry into the matter.

Local villagers said that they heard the sound of elephants shouting in an unnatural manner throughout the night. Slowly, the voice kept decreasing. It was quiet until dawn. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma expressed concern over the matter. Forest Minister Parimal Suklabedya is preparing to visit the spot.

Elephant expert Bibhuti Lahkar has described the incident as shocking. He said that this is a very rare case. Such incidents are extremely rare in the northeastern states. Such incidents usually occur with elephants living on the plains of Africa. Such incidents are extremely rare in India. About 12 to 15 years ago such an incident took place in Halapada, West Bengal. But not so many elephants were killed in it.

Bibhuti Lahkar said that the forest department officials are considering the lightning fall behind this tragic incident, but should not be hurried in this matter. Because not one or two elephants have died here. 18 elephants have been killed here. If they are really killed by lightning, then it is the result of climate change. This never happened here. Due to climate change, unseasonal storm, rain is coming.

Every year dozens of elephants are killed by electric shock in India. But these electric shocks are caused by currents run in barbed wire created by humans. In 2016-17, 56 elephants were killed due to electrocution. 69 elephants were killed in 2017-18. Whereas, 81 elephants died due to electrocution in 2018-19. These figures were presented in the Rajya Sabha by Union Minister of State for Forests Babul Supriyo on 16 March 2020. (Photo: Gatti

At the same time, 60 elephants have died due to the arrival of the train from 2016 to 19 in the country. 21 in 2016–17, 20 in 2017–18 and 19 in 2018–19 elephants were killed in front of the train. These information were introduced in the Lok Sabha on 6 March 2020. According to official figures, there are 29,964 elephants in India at this time. Which are divided into four parts of India.

The North East has the most 10,139 elephants. It includes all the states of North-East and West Bengal. There are 3128 elephants in East Central. It includes Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and some parts of West Bengal. There are 2085 elephants in the north-west area. These include Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Himachal. The maximum number of elephants are in South India. There are 14,612 elephants here. This includes Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman-Nicobar and Tamil Nadu.