Four elephants electrocuted in Goodrickal forests

By Our Staff Reporter

PATHANAMTHITTA, JUNE 8. Both the KSEB and the Forest Department were caught napping in the Goodrickal Forest range that comes under the Project Elephant area in the Ranni Forest division when the carcasses of a young tusker and three female elephants were found lying in a putrefied condition on a hillside at Chorakakki recently.

The pachyderms were reportedly electrocuted when they came in contact with the live 220 KV power transmission line stretched above while grazing on the reeds on the hillside.

With the current incident, the total number of wild elephants electrocuted in the Goodrickal range alone has gone up to 15 during the past five years.

A group of four wild elephants had been electrocuted at Chorakakki in September, 1997, putting the official machinery in the dock.

It is alleged that the recurring elephant casualties in the forests that come under the Project Elephant area itself showed the crass neglect on the part of the official machinery in ensuring effective protection to wildlife.

``The usual practice of the Forest officials is to simply blame the KSEB officials for not cutting the undergrowth around the transmission lines stretched through the forest areas in time whenever a tragedy strikes. The Forest officials are not supposed to cool their heels presuming that the KSEB officials will guard the forest areas from the dangers posed by the transmission lines, '' said a local schoolmaster at Seethathode while talking to The Hindu.

Many local people at Seethathode, the village nearest to Chorakakki, are of the opinion that both the Forest and the KSEB officials were equally responsible for the electrocution of wild elephants in the forest areas. They allege that the Forest officials have miserably failed in ensuring that the KSEB takes all necessary precautions to ward off the dangers posed by the high-tension transmission lines pass through the forests.

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, prescribes that ``the maximum width of the `Right of Way' for the transmission lines on forest land shall be 35 metres for the 220 KV lines.''

It also maintain that ``felling, pollarding, and pruning of trees will be done with the permission of the local Forest officer, whenever necessary, to maintain the electrical clearance. One outer strip shall be left clear to permit maintenance of the transmission line.''

The Act strictly observes that ``a minimum clearance of 4.6 metres should be maintained between the conductors and trees in case of the 220 KV transmission lines and the sag and swing of the conductors should also be kept in view.''

However, when contacted, the KSEB Assistant Executive Engineer, Mr. T.S. Santhosh Kumar, and the Assistant Engineer, Mr. N. Rajeev, said that the KSEB employees used to clear the undergrowth around the transmission lines during their monthly patrol in the Forest areas.

It is noteworthy to mention here that a tiger, a sambhar and a mouse bear were electrocuted in the Vallakkadavu forests last year and since then, the Forest department had stopped power transmission through the area to the Mullapperiyar dam, protesting against the indifference of the KSEB in ensuring protection to the wildlife from the dangers posed by the power transmission lines in the forest areas. Similarly, in another incident, seven elephants were electrocuted in Thekkady a few years ago.

Wildlife experts view the death of a young tusker in the latest electrocution at Chorakakki a serious setback, considering the alarmingly low tusker population in Kerala forests.

According to the studies conducted by the Kerala Forest Research Institute at Thrissur, the tusker-female elephant ratio is very precarious in Kerala forests. The KFRI studies show that the tusker-female ratio may even be 1:250.

Experts say that the KSEB and the Forest Department should see to it that the transmission lines passing through the danger zones of the Kerala forests should be properly insulated to ward off any electrocution incidents in future.

The Forest Veterinary Officer, Dr. E.K. Eswaran, and Dr P.G. Pappachan, a veterinary surgeon at Chathanthara near Seethathode, conducted an autopsy on the four carcasses today.

The Ranni DFO, Mr. S. Ravi Kumar, and the DFO (Flying Squad, Punalur), Mr. M. Pushpangadan, along with the Goodrickal range officer, Mr. P.R. Suresh, and Mr. Raju Thomas visited the spot of the tragedy today.

The putrefying carcasses of the wild elephants electrocuted at Chorakakki in the Goodrickal range of the Ranni Forest Division in Pathanamthitta district.

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