In the ongoing human-elephant conflict, Odisha recorded the maximum number of casualties in the country with an all-time high of 149 in 2023-24. This came after a woman was killed by a tusker on Saturday morning in the Sundargarh district.
A woman, Itwari Badra, was trampled to death in Sundargarh’s Kusumundi Village by an elephant that was roaming in the village in search of food, HT reported citing officials. The woman ran for her life but wasn’t able to escape as the giant animal trapped her in the trunk before treading her. She died on the spot.
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Over 1,701 humans have been killed by elephants from 2020-21 to 2023-24 across 16 states in the country. As per the data presented in the Rajya Sabha by the Union Environment Ministry in December, Odisha has topped the list with 148 such deaths in 2022-23.
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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Feb 18 reached Kerala’s Wayanad to visit the houses of victims of recent elephant attacks and consoled their family members. The Wayanad MP halted his ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ in Varanasi against the backdrop of protests by locals and leaders of the political parties seeking solutions to stop the wildlife attacks in the area.
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Rahul Gandhi also slammed the ruling Kerala government and asked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in a letter why it was taking ‘so long’ to build a medical college in Wayanad, and sought immediate release of compensation to the families of victims.“The medical college is a critical issue. I don't understand why it is taking so long to develop and build a medical college here. I've written to the chief minister and I would request him again to please expedite this matter. It is almost becoming a joke now," the Wayanad MP was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.