Odisha: RCCF convenes meeting to stop recurrence of elephant deaths

SAMBALPUR: Taking serious note of three elephants being crushed to death by a speeding train on April 16 near Telidihi village under Bagdihi forest range in Jharsuguda district, Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF) OP Singh on Friday convened a meeting here to check recurrence of such incidents.
The RCCF expressed dissatisfaction over the railways showing negligence and asked the officials to fill up the trenches along the  railway tracks immediately. These trenches were dug up  for laying of cables long back but large stretches are still lying open,  including Bagdihi area.

The railway authorities were reminded that  three elephants fell into the trenches on October 23 last year and  died after getting injured.During the meeting, it was found that bamboo barricades along the track in Bagdihi, a regular  movement path, is causing obstruction in movement of elephants. The barricades led to the deahs of elephants on railway tracks on April  16. A  large quantity of bamboo has been used to construct  barricades along  long stretches and the source of bamboo and  genuineness of its purchase  is under investigation by Jharusguda  DFO Sushant Kumar.

It was decided that steps like sharing of contact details of railway and forest officials and VHF frequency will  be taken up for quick communication on presence of elephants near  railway tracks. Similarly, co-ordination  meetings at DFO level will be organised at regular intervals. The railway authorities were reminded about  installation  of signage boards and test checks would be undertaken  soon.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Jharsuguda DFO had held a meeting  with the railway officers of Sambalpur Railway Division led by AEN  Namonarayan Meena and asked them to take measures to prevent death of  elephants on tracks under their division.

Among others, Sambalpur DFO Sanjit Kumar, Rourkela DFO Sanjay Swain, Additional Divisional  Railway Managers and senior officials of Chakradharpur Railway Division  under South Eastern Railway and Sambalpur Railway Division under East  Coast Railway were present.

10 houses damaged in Dhenkanal

Dhenkanal: A herd of elephants on Friday destroyed at least 10 houses at Jatia village near Sarang in Parjang block of the district. The wild animals also ate up foodgrains stored in houses of some of the victims. Later, villagers informed the forest officials who rushed to the village and assessed the damage. Meanwhile, villagers demanded before the administration for adequate compensation.