A CORRESPONDENT
DIBRUGARH: A 48-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Abhaypur village under Namrup police station in Dibrugarh on Saturday evening. The deceased has been identified as Nandeswar Gogoi.
According to reports, Nandeswar Gogoi was returning from Namrup market at around 9 pm when he encountered a wild elephant on the road. He was chased by the elephant and later trampled to death.
Locals said the elephant strayed out of the Joypur reserve forest in search of food and entered into human habitation. "We are helpless because most of the times, wild elephants come out from the Joypur reserve forest in search of food and enter our villages. We have urged the forest department to take steps to stop the depredation of wild elephants," said a villager.
The elephants from Joypur reserve forest frequently move to Assam-Arunachal border and its be periphery. Talking to media persons, the deceased's brother requested the Assam Government to give the victim's family compensation and to take the responsibility of educating the children.
"Man-elephant conflict has been rising rapidly due to shrinking of forest cover. We urge the government to solve the problem," he said.
Devojit Moran, environmental activist said, "Due to to shrinking of forest cover, man-elephant conflict has been rising. The forest department should work in coordination with villagers to stop the conflict. The wild elephants frequently enter villages in search of food during the winter season. Most of the times, the elephant herds destroy crop fields and the poor farmers try different techniques to stop the elephant depredation which result in conflict."
Talking to The Sentinel, Pushpadhar Buragohain, range officer of Jeypore said, "We have sent the body for post mortem. As per procedure, the family will get compensation. The elephant comes out from Jeypore reserve forest which is adjacent to the village."
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