Family Flees As Red Ants Invade Village To Set Up Colonies In Odisha’s Puri

Puri: In a rare phenomenon, a village in Odisha’s Puri has been invaded by lakhs of poisonous red ants forcing the villagers to flee to save their lives.

According to sources, the villagers of Brahmansahi under Chandradeipur pachayat in Pipli block of the district have been facing the onslaught of red ants for the last two months. Thousands of ants creep into the houses and enter all possible places, making life miserable for the people.

The villagers have detected the source of these dangerous creatures to the embankment of a nearby canal. Though they have used pesticide to prevent the ants from entering the houses, it had little effect on them, the sources said.

Once an army of red ants enter the house, preferably those having mud walls, they set up their colonies. If anybody tries to disperse them, he is attacked by stinging bites of the ants. “Many villagers have developed rashes and swelling of limbs due to toxic saliva left by the ants after the bite,” said a villager.

“We have never seen such species of ants. They are also attacking lizards, frogs, centipedes, snakes, cats and dogs,” said another villager.

Meanwhile, the family members of Kumuda Dash have already vacated their house due to ant menace while others were planning to follow suit.

The sarpanch of Chandradeipur has taken up the issue with Pipli Block Development Officer (BDO) seeking steps to save the villagers from the dangerous red ants.