Tragedy in Chhattisgarh: Elephants' Rampage Leaves Tragic Mark

In a grievous incident, two elephants wreaked havoc in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district, resulting in the loss of three lives, including a young child. The distressing event unfolded in two villages, Gosaidih and Mohanpur, on Tuesday night, leaving the community in mourning.

The female elephant and her calf first targeted Gosaidih village, obliterating homes and tragically trampling three-year-old Satyam Rawat to death. Their destructive passage continued to Mohanpur village, where they claimed the lives of Santara Bai Rathiya, 46, and Purushottam Khadia, 48, confirmed Jitendra Upadhyay, Divisional Forest Officer of Dharamjaigarh.

With swift response, forest department teams were dispatched to the affected locations, securing the area and compensating the grieving families with an immediate relief of Rs 25,000 each. The rise in human-elephant conflicts, with over 320 fatalities in the past five years in the region, underscores the pressing need for effective wildlife management strategies.

(With inputs from agencies.)