That as many as 245 jumbos were reported dead in just three years indicates that these wild animals are not safe in our State. Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja on Wednesday said this while expressing concern over jumbo deaths.
Earlier in the day, Saluja had raised the issue of frequent incidents of elephant deaths in the House.
“Not only human beings, elephants are also not safe in our State at all. While a total of 784 elephants were reported dead in the last 10 years, 245 elephant death cases were reported alone in the last three years,” deplored the Congress legislator.
“A few days ago, skeletal remains of elephants were exhumed in Athagarh forest division. This means, these pachyderms were poached for their tusks before being buried. The tusks are being sold in foreign lands,” claimed Saluja.
“Today, we asked the State government to clarify on what steps it has taken for the safety of elephants as well as their corridors. We have demanded the government should carry out an investigation and take stringent action against the poachers,” said the legislator.
Notably, a high-level special investigation team has been formed to probe the death of elephant and recovery of skeletal remains of jumbos from Athagarh forest division in Cuttack district.