Jumbo herd destroys crop in Keonjhar

Representative photo

Keonjhar: A herd of 48 elephants damaged a few acres of standing crop and farmlands at Bamebari and Balibandha areas under Champua range in Keonjhar district in the early hours of Sunday.
Upon getting information from the panicked villagers, forest department personnel rushed to the spot and started an operation to drive the elephants back into the forest.
The villagers demanded a permanent solution to prevent elephants from entering the villages and agricultural fields.
Five days ago, two herds of 53 elephants had strayed into human settlements at Sarei and Mukundpur under the same range and destroyed a number of houses and paddy fields.