Elephant menace: Crop damaged in 3 districts

BRAHMAPUR/PHULBANI/BARGARH: Following the huge damage of standing paddy at Sambalpur district’s Gudesingha area and Kendujhar district’s Sadar Forest Range area on Saturday, the marauding pachyderms have wrecked havoc in three other districts Ganjam, Kandhamal and Bargarh by damaging standing paddy and Rabi crops.

A herd of about 17 elephants in three different groups are continuously damaging ripening paddy and vegetable crops in the villages of Podagada, Jhatipadar, N Barpalli, Raghunathpur, Balibagada and Palur area under Ganjam block in Ganjam district. The elephant herds had created headache during planting of paddy saplings, but this time left the farmers in frustration as they were all prepared to harvest the paddy.

“What will we do, if the pachyderms don’t move to their natural habitat? If we want to take them away, we have to tranquilise the jumbos for shifting them otherwise we could not,” said Brahmapur DFO SS Mishra.

In Kandhamal district, a herd of about 25 elephants, including eight tuskers, have destroyed standing paddy and other Rabi crops in Baliguda area in the district, forest officials said on Monday. The herd migrated from Urladani forest range in Kalahandi North Forest Division was roaming near Belghar, Tumudibandha and Baliguda forest range areas for last one week, said the Baliguda forest officials.

Last year also a herd of about 30 elephants had come from the same place and damaged standing crops for about a week and the department had to toil hard to drive them out, the officials said.

In Bargarh, elephant herds destroyed standing crop in vast patches of land in Ambabhona block of the Bargarh district and rest other parts of western region including Sambalpur also. About 18 elephants strayed in the villages late in the night on Saturday and damaged crop in Baddhara, Salepali, Ganpara, Bhukta, Pichholi area of the Ambabhona block.

Their presence is also marked in the Bhattli block of the district, said divisional forest officer (DFO) of Bargarh Rajat Lenka. But it is a fact that the elephants, before leaving the villages, ruined a large quantity of crop in the block for which the villagers demanded compensation for the loss.

On being contacted, DFO Lenka said, “We are yet to assess the loss. The revenue inspector will visit the area for assessment. The farmers will be adequately compensated.”