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Journalism of Courage
Three women, including a mother and her daughter, were trampled to death by a wild elephant that strayed away from its herd in a village in Baska district of Lower Assam on Tuesday.
The three women — Padumi Rabha (35), her daughter Jonali Rabha (13) and Anima Baniya (36) — were crushed to death by a male lame elephant. The elephant had strayed from a herd of about 20 elephants that had come out of the Bhutan forests in search of food and entered Assam. The incident occurred at village Dhekipota under Tamulpur police station in the newly-created district.
This is the second incident of death by wild elephants in Baska in the past two months. Last month, five persons, all members of the same family, were trampled by a wild elephant at Uttarkuchi village under Borbori police station in the district.
Two days ago, a 50-year old woman was trampled by a herd of three wild elephants which had strayed out of the Abhoypur reserved forest in Sivasagar district. Hariyani Goala, the victim, a resident of Raidongiya village, was on her way to Kailashbasti village when she was killed.
Goalpara is also facing a similar problem. Last week one such herd destroyed 20 houses under Krishnai police station. However, no loss of life was reported.
Officials and experts say rapid decrease in habitat is the main reason behind the increasing man-elephant conflict. “It is a fact that space for wild elephants is reducing by the day. This again is due to large-scale encroachment of reserved forests,” said Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, a wildlife expert and member of the State Wildlife Board.
In fact, at least 270 people have been killed across Assam in the past one decade by elephants. The district of Sonitpur alone accounts for more than 150 such deaths. Sonitpur has also witnessed the highest destruction of reserved forests in the recent years, with official figures showing over 60,000 hectares out of 1.13 lakh hectares of reserved forest area under encroachment.
