More casualties in man-elephant conflict

The Statesman
July 23, 2008

SILIGURI, July 23: The man-elephant conflict continues in north Bengal with five human casualties in the last 15 days.
In the wee hours yesterday, a speeding train mowed down a wild pachyderm near the Gulma station in Siliguri, but later in the evening a marauding tusker trampled a man to death at Kalchini block in the Dooars.
According to locals of Garam Basti village at Kalchini, the lone tusker forayed into the village from the adjacent Damanpur forest and crushed Robin Sangma (27), who was walking along the village trail. The youth died on the spot.
The tusker also decimated three huts before returning to the Damanpur forest.
Angry villagers of Garam Basti blocked the NH 31C for about an hour this morning. The blockade was withdrawn after forest officials assured adequate compensation for the dead man's family.
With this, the number of human casualties caused by wild elephants in north Bengal has shot up to five in just the last 15 days. Of these, four people were killed in the Dooars.
On 7 July, a man was trampled to death by a wild tusker at Gayerkata. On 9 July, a male tea worker was trampled and killed by a tusker at Satali tea estate under Kalchini police station.
Then on 13 July, a tusker from the Budhaganj forest raided a village near Raninagar in the Jalpaiguri plains and trampled a jute farmer to death. Again, on 15 July, a marauding tusker killed another tea worker at Nangdella tea estate in the Dooars.
At least nine wild elephants too have died unnatural deaths in north Bengal in the past 45 days by way of electrocution, poisoning and train accident.