Will the Jumbo deaths be in vain?

Covered power cables to avoid further tragedy:

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

November 30 dawned with heartbreaking news for animal lovers. The sight of four jumbos lying dead in a row in Valachchanai was shocking to anyone. The deaths of the four elephants went like a shock wave through the Ceylon Electricity Board and the Department of Wildlife Conservation.

It was on the November 30 the media reported that four elephants were killed after being electrocuted by a high voltage cable near the 119-120 train mile post in the Valachchenai area that had happened the day before.

With these deaths the Wildlife Department handed a detailed report to the Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife and Agrarian Services to be delivered to President Mahinda Rajapaksa mentioning making suggestions that need to be implemented in the area to safeguard Bio-Diversity. The main suggestion would be to mark the area as an elephant corridor and protect it by law.

As for the case for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, who was the previous Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, directed the CEB top management to take immediate action to rectify the matter.

According to the ministerial sources the directive had not been only for the Valachchanai area but to all those places across the country where high voltage cables extended over jungles that pose a threat to the wildlife.

Accordingly the CEB is now supposed to make necessary technical adjustments working closely with the Wildlife officials when laying electric lines in areas concerned. Minister Ranawaka has also instructed the officials to specifically use covered power cables when laying power lines particularly in those areas. The directive from the Minister for the CEB officials was to make sure such tragedies never repeat in the future.

According to wildlife officials, the area between 117 milepost and 122 milepost on the Punani road in Valachchanai is a well-known corridor to many large animals with migratory habits - of which elephants are prominent.

As per their investigations into the scene, this high tension line was first broken down when LTTE terrorists were present in the area before the Eastern liberation. The terrorists have exploded a high tension line crippling nearly ten concrete posts. Thus, the CEB had managed to put up a temporary line with wooden posts as the terrorist threatened environment of the area was making lengthy work impossible.

After regaining peace in the area, the CEB has been replacing the broken power lines and wooden temporary posts, yet for some unfortunate reason two of the wooden posts of the line has not been replaced.

When these four gentle beasts were crossing the path, one animal had leaned against one wooden post, lowering the power cables. When the power lines hit the animal it electrocuted it to death, and according to wildlife officials the post could have returned to its original straight position.

This is based on the post-mortem carried out by the Wildlife authorities that shows there are signs on the animals showing that there have been intervals of a few seconds between the deaths - meaning the jumbos died one at a time. If the power line fell on them at once there could not be a time difference in these deaths. All four elephants have been males and as per the observations by the Wildlife officials there are about ninety elephants that roam the area. The animals were aged between 25 years and 40 years.

Unfortunately, today Sri Lanka has lost another four elephants - the flagship species of the country. In this particular area in Valachchanai, human resettlements are mushrooming after gaining the peace.

Houses have been built blocking the elephant migratory path signing a disaster of a larger scale in the near future, unless the relevant officials take appropriate action to settle the people in safer areas. The four innocent animals had to die to open the eyes of the authorities to straighten the broken lines. And how many more have to die to correct the situation while there's still a chance?