A woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant on Saturday morning at Raj Fapri, a forest fringe area of the Baikunthapur forest division in Siliguri, renewing concerns over man-elephant conflict in north Bengal.

The deceased is Sunita Thapa Chhetri, 35, a resident of Raj Fapri, which is under the jurisdiction of the Sarugara forest range.

“A lone elephant strayed into the area early in the morning and suddenly came face-to-face with the woman. She was attacked and died on the spot,” said Raja M, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Baikunthapur.

He said a forest patrol team from the Sarugara range was in the vicinity at the time. Following the incident, a Quick Response Team (QRT) was deployed, and the process for disbursing ₹5 lakh compensation to the victim’s family has
been initiated.

Forest officials said a proposal to install solar-powered fencing in vulnerable fringe villages was sent to the state forest department in a bid to curb recurring elephant
incursions.

The tragedy comes less than a week after an awareness meeting was organised at Ambari on June 30 to address elephant electrocution deaths and strategies to reduce human-animal conflict.

“It was resolved during the meeting to step up monitoring across all four ranges Belakoba, Ambari, Sarugara, and Dabgram by engaging Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) and intensifying patrolling by QRTs,” said a senior official.

Last year, a wild elephant died of electrocution in
Takimari of the same division. There have been reports of villagers keeping live wires
in their fields to scare elephants away.

Currently, 66 JFMCs are active in the division, and 24 QRTs are engaged in round-the-clock patrolling and monitoring of wildlife movement.

A forest department source said that currently over 50 elephants are roaming in Targhera and Apalchand, while a few solitary elephants have also been sighted.

“The pre-monsoon meeting also focused on sensitising villagers and officials of the state power distribution utility to prevent illegal electricity connections in forest-edge settlements,” a forester added.

Koustabh Choudhury, founder of the Solitary Nature and Animal Protection (SNAP) Foundation, also attended the meeting. He said the NGO would intensify awareness drives among villagers and reward the most effective forest protection committee.