Representative image of herd of elephants.
Credit: PTI Photo
A 16-year-old female elephant was electrocuted when it toppled a power transmission pole at Nallagandlapalli village in Chittoor district in the early hours of Sunday, a forest official said.
The incident took place around 4 am, the official said, adding that the elephant died when live wires fell on it.
“The elephant was part of a herd," Chittoor District Forest Officer (DFO) Chaitanya Kumar Reddy told PTI. "It died between 3 am and 4 am when it dislodged the power transmission pole, resulting in electric wires falling on it."
According to the DFO, the forest department had told the electricity department to turn off power during nighttime whenever there was elephant movement, and also to not leave any power lines hanging loose. But no action was taken.
Following a postmortem examination, the carcass of the elephant will be cremated, Reddy said, adding that the forest department will book a case against the electricity department for negligence of duty under the Wildlife Protection Act.
Meanwhile, in another incident, a 45-year-old man was crushed to death by an elephant at Punganur in Peddapanjani mandal when he came in the path of a herd, Reddy said.
The incident took place around 7 pm on Saturday, he added.