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Parjang: The havoc created by elephants which destroyed standing crops at Sarang, Damol, Patarpada, Lodhani, Kandarsinha, Parjang, Pitiri and Rokumusi under Mahabirod forest range in Dhenkanal district has angered farmers.
The farmers belonging to the Anchalika Chasi Surakshya Manch, a local outfit, staged a rally Thursday protesting the inaction of the district administration and the forest department in curbing the elephant menace.
“The pachyderms damaged our crops and destroyed our houses. Three people lost their lives and seven persons were injured seriously in the attacks. Farmers are unable to cultivate their land and as a result agricultural output has come down,” said a farmer who participated in the protest.
“The government’s move to disconnect electricity supply in elephant corridors during the movement of the animals has added to our woes as we have to spend hours without power,” he added.
“Even though the farmers have informed the authorities concerned, the latter didn’t do anything to help us,” he said.
Protesting the apathy of the officials, hundreds of farmers took out a rally and demonstrated in front of the Parjang tehsil office. Later, they staged a protest in front of the Dihadol forest section office to press for their 10-point charter of demands.
The farmers demanded action to drive away elephants from the area, Rs 20 lakh compensation for the families of those killed by elephants, a job for a family member of the deceased, demarcation of the elephant corridor with solar powered fencing, construction of a tower for monitoring the movements of elephants, stopping power cuts and signage for identifying elephant corridors.
The rally was taken out under the leadership of Ranjan Kumar Rout and was attended by Durga Prasad Sahoo, Manas Parida, Hemant Samal, Bijay Kumar Sahoo, Ramesh Chandra Sahoo, Laxmidhar Sahoo, Nirakar Pradhan, Ramesh Chandra Sahoo and Bijendra Sahoo.
A memorandum addressed to the DFO was submitted to Mahabirod forest ranger Haramohan Nayak.
Parjang IIC Jitendra Sahoo, SI Anadi Charan Pattayat and ASI Ajay Sahoo were present at the protest site.