Guwahati: In yet another incident of man-elephant conflict, at least three people were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Udalguri district of Assam on Tuesday.
The incident took place last night at Mazbat along the Assam – Arunachal Pradesh state border.
Locals claimed that a herd of wild tuskers ran amok in the area last night. They destroyed plantations while damaging numerous homes.
Meanwhile, the deceased are said to be from the same family. They have been identified as Nabin Basumatary, Yamini Basumatary and Hadanshwa Basumatary.
It needs to be mentioned that this is the second such incident in the space of three days.
Human-elephant conflict has assumed alarming proportions in the state in 2022, raising concerns among conservationists. Assam, which has the country’s second highest elephant population, is facing a rising trend in human-elephant conflict due to the fast depletion of the state’s forest cover, which has resulted in the destruction of elephant habitats. The pachyderms often stray into the human settlement in search of food and water.
Over the last ten years, a total 812 people and 900 elephants have been killed as competition for land intensified in the state. The human casualties mostly occur during the dry season, when the animals move out of their habitats in search of food and water.