Farmer Loses House & Crop In 3 Successive Attacks By Elephant In Odisha’s Kandhamal

Phulbani: An elephant seems to have targeted a particular farmer as it has damaged the latter’s house and crop three times in one week in Odisha’s Kandhamal district.

According to sources, the farmer, Jugurai Pradhan of Aramba village in Kalinga Ghati under G Udaygiri block of the district, has lost most of his crop due to the elephant’s repeated attacks.

Jugurai earns his livelihood by selling vegetables and fruits from a small patch of cultivable land in the village. He also stays with his family in the house there.

The sources said the elephant first came to the village on the night of July 2 and went on a rampage in the farm of Jugurai. The wild animal damaged the vegetable plants by stamping on those, broke the branches of mango, lichi and coconut trees and destroyed the banana plantation.

The elephant, though it is not confirmed whether it is the same one or not, again came to Jugurai’s house on the night of July 3 and rummaged through his property. The third attack by the elephant was most vicious as it pulled down the farmer’s thatched house, destroyed his power-tiller, and feasted on the crop stored inside the house.

Now, Jugurai has lost almost all the crop that he had cultivated and the power-tiller purchased recently from the hard-earned money. With no vegetables nor fruits left to sell in the market, he has been left in a lurch. The villagers have appealed to the Forest department to herd the elephant away and provide compensation to Jugurai.