Bargaon: A three-year-old girl was killed while her mother sustained critical injuries after an elephant herd from Jharkhand pulled down their house at Timana under Bargaon forest range in Sundargarh district late Tuesday night.
Barsha Bada, daughter of Rajesh Bada, died on the spot. Barsha’s mother Shanti (25) was admitted to the district headquarters hospital and subsequently shifted to VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research at Burla.
According to reports, forest officials had last year asked Rajesh to shift elsewhere as his house was prone to attack by elephants.
The jumbo menace has crippled the normal life of residents who live in constant fear of getting attacked by the pachyderms. Another elephant herd from Chhattisgarh has caused similar destruction in the area. While the herd from Jharkhand consists of 17 elephants, the herd from Chhattisgarh has four members. The arrival of the two herds has triggered panic among the residents.
The animals strayed into the area July 24 and since then have gone on a rampage destroying the houses of 33 persons and crops of over 50 persons in the region. The elephants are now holed up in Ambagubha forest near Panjara village.
They stray into human habitations as evening descends and wreak havoc on people and properties.
Villagers led by Dandajamara sarpanch Bhagaban Lakra recently convened a meeting and met the Bargaon forest ranger requesting him to save them from the jumbo menace. PNN