TNI Bureau: The man-animal conflict has been intensified in Hindol area of Odisha’s Dhenkanal with reports of people’s death coming to the fore frequently which has left people of the locality in a state of fear and panic.
According to reports, a herd of elephant reportedly entered the residential area following a power cut in Rakala Kundeshwar Temple. Fearing attack by the wild animals the villagers ran for life amid dark darkness which left two of them critical and over 100 others injured.
On August 2, a 56-year-old farmer identified as Sudhakar Samal, a resident of Tangisala village under Hindol block died after being attacked by a wild animal. Samal was killed by the jumbo when he had gone to work on his farm on Friday.
Prior to this, three persons namely Jhulana Dehuri, Karunakar Dehuri and Sashi Sahu were killed in an elephant attack in Baghadharia village under Hindol police limits of on July 31. According to reports, the wild elephant appeared in the village all of a sudden and attacked them.
The rising number of human deaths due to elephant has become a great concern for the locals due to which the intellectuals demanded proper action from state government to avoid such man-elephant conflict.
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In his reaction over the incident, President of Dhenkanal Senior Citizens Council and retired District Judge Durga Charan Mishra said, “In the last two years nearly three thousand people have died in elephant attacks. While the politicians are mum over the incident, the government is silent by providing some financial assistance.”
“There is no solution without public awareness and movement. I strongly condemn the government’s failure to save crops and lives and demand the government to take steps immediately to disperse the elephants from the locality and do something very constructive and effective that the animals do not enter the residential areas and kill the people.”
Mishra expressed his deep condolences to the bereaved families and demanded to increase the compensation amount to Rs 1 crore.
Most importantly, Odisha Forest and Environment Minister Ganesh Ram Singh Khuntia on March 11, 2025 had informed the State Assembly that as many as 1,209 people were killed due to elephant attacks between 2014-15 and 2024-25 in the state.
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