Jumbo deaths: Cesc, forest to work in tandem

 The Chamun- deshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (Cesc) has finally woken up to address the issue of frequent deaths of wild elephants due to electrocution.

This follows the death of four elephants which were electrocuted at a coffee estate belonging to Boppanda Viju Ganapathi at Yadur village in Kannangala Gram Panchayat limits on Tuesday. On June 14, two elephants died at the coffee estate of M Mani near Ontiangadi.

Cesc, along with the Forest department, has now decided to set up a coordination committee to check the recurrence of such incidents. Besides, as a permanent solution, it has been decided to submit a proposal to lay underground cables against overhead lines to provide electricity.

The committee includes Manoj Kumar, Chief Conservator of Forest, Kodagu circle; Suryasen, DCF of Madikeri range; Mariya Christu Raj, DCF; Kiran, Cesc MD, SE Ramachandra and Somashekar, Executive Engineer, among other officials. The committee will meet once in three months and chalk out plans to bring down the incidents of man-animal conflicts and electric mishaps that pose a threat to wildlife.

Dead jumbo was chosen for radio collaring

The forest personnel planned to radio collar an aged female elephant that was leading a herd of jumbos into the coffee plantations so as to track their movements. Plans however, went awry as the same jumbo met its tragic end on Tuesday.

According to forest personnel, jumbos were straying out of the forest in two separate herds in Siddapura and Chattalli. While one herd comprised 40 elephants, another had 13 elephants with most of them being female elephants. A female pachyderm died along with three other elephants after stepping on the snapped electric line, stated the autopsy report.