Herd of elephants wreaks havoc in Angul, damages standing crops
Prameya News
December 7, 2023
A herd of elephants wreaks havoc in as many as seven villages near the
Nalco in Angull district.
The herd reportedly damaged huge patches of standing crops in the Talmul
and Gadharakhai areas under the Banarpal Block limit.
Sources said that as many as 15 elephants led by a tusker have been
straying in the Gadharakhai village forest for more than a week. The
elephants are barging into the nearby villages and the paddy lands at night
and massively damaging the ripe paddy crops. At the same time, the tusker
is eating up harvested paddy from the granaries, marching into the village
in the daytime.
Forest officials along with elephant tracking teams are keeping vigil on
the movements of the elephant herd. However, every mechanism of the forest
officials, to chase the wild pachyderms into the forest, has so far proved
futile.
Meanwhile, the fierce tusker, which has reportedly trampled several people
to death, has sheltered on a hoard of stubble and straw, gathered in ones
granary. It is a major concern for the locals of the Gadharakhai area since
it never moves from the spot, despite blowing out of a series of
firecrackers, by the forest crews.
Reacting over the elephant panic and loss of crops, Subhakant Parida, a
native of the Gadharakhai village said the people of Gadharakhai and its
surrounding villages have been languishing in sleepless nights. The
interventions of forest officials are of no relief to the locals.
At the same time, local village forums urged the district administration to
install permanent solar fences on the porous borders and the regular
elephant- passages around the village, for the safeguard of men, animals,
and agriculture.
https://www.prameyanews.com/herd-of-elephants-wreaks-havoc-in-angul-damages-standing-crops