Balasore/Cuttack: People of villages in Balasore’s Nilagiri are spending sleepless nights with a herd of rampaging elephants creating panic in the area since Tuesday.
More than 40 ‘Jharkhandi’ elephants have strayed into Nilagiri area and reportedly destroyed standing crops.
“More than 40 elephants, including calves, again entered the villages. We fear for our life and properties,” said Nanda Nayak, a local.
On the other hand, the Forest Department had been making all efforts to drive the elephants away from human settlements.
“The elephant herd was spotted at Kathaphal last night. They crossed these areas this morning. The forest staffers have been deployed in the area. We will count their exact number today. A herd of elephant had strayed into this area last week. We will track their movement to know whether it is the same herd,” said Nilagiri Forest Department staffer Prakash Mardhraj.
Notably, a herd of 34 elephants had been on the rampage at Nilagiri in Balasore district for three days last week.
According to sources, the elephants entered Jadibali forest from the one near Gopalpur through Tegaladhi and Hatimunda villages. Tension prevailed in these affected villages as the pachyderm destroyed crops enroute.
This has been a trend for the past few years with herds of elephant raiding human settlements during the harvest season. They stepped in a month earlier this year and locals attributed it to inadequate food resources in forests.
On the other hand, all efforts of the Forest Department to drive away the herd have no far reaped no results.
Panic gripped locals in Cuttack, as a jumbo herd was spotted near CDA-11 bridge on Tuesday night.
The Forest employees stayed awake the whole night, trying to drive away the herd of around 15 elephants.
“We are trying to keep the elephants away from the city. Forces have been deployed to drive them out. They have strayed into the area from Athagrah,” said Mahammad Jamir, Forest Department official.
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