Elephant calf dies after falling into trench in Nonaipara TE

TANGLA: In a heart-wrenching incident, an elephant calf died after it fell into a trench in Nonaipara TE of the Udalguri district on Tuesday morning.

Reportedly, the calf aged about six months fell into a trench in Section No. 6 of the tea garden will moving with the herd. The deceased calf, along with its herd, strayed out of the jungle in search of food and while returning, it got trapped. The forest officials, tea garden management and SSB officials had a tough time as the mother of the calf and two other elephants refused to leave the dead jumbo and surrounded it for more than 7-8 hours. The tea garden workers have expressed concern over safety and security of their life and property.

“The Nonaipara and Orangajuli TEs are worst victims of man-elephant conflict as the gardens are attached to Khalingduar Reserve Forest,” said a forest official. Talking to this correspondent, Monjoy Bagh, a resident of the area said, “The tea garden workers are worried over safety and security as elephant herds are moving in search of food and causing havoc.”

“There is no fodder for the pachyderms and there are no efforts from the forest department either to take up plantation drive in the reserve forest or create awareness among the citizens,” he added.

The elephant herds damaged 6 labour quarters in Bamunjuli TE on June 10. The herd also vandalized 10 labour quarters on June 11 in Nonaipara TE. Meanwhile, this is the third incident that occurred within a week. Earlier on June 6, a jumbo had fallen into a well in Bholatar village along the Indo-Bhutan border in the Udalguri district, and another elephant calf had fallen into a well and died in Budlapara TE on June 7.

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