Elephant deaths: Orissa HC seeks detailed plan from JTF

CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday sought a detailed action plan from the joint task force (JTF) constituted for preventing unnatural elephant deaths in the state to deal with the problem.The court issued the direction after perusing the affidavit filed by Chief Conservator of Forests, Odisha, Dr Manoj V Nair who is also the convener of JTF. Nair also filed a draft comprehensive action plan (CAP) stating efforts are on for its roll out and achievement of some of the targets by the end of December 2022.

The draft CAP indicated that the electricity distribution companies have already been consulted to address the issue of elephant deaths on account of electrocution. On the issue of elephant poaching, Nair assured concrete action by having timelines for completion of investigation, filing of chargesheets and pursuing trials till their completion. However, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice MS Raman said, “The court expects that a more detailed granular action plan on each two aspects (electrocution deaths and poaching cases) will be placed before the court on the next date (January 18).”