Bargaon: Panic gripped the residents in villages adjoining Bargaon forest range in Sundargarh district after an elephant herd from Jharkhand strayed into the area and unleashed a reign of terror, a report said.
The herd, comprising over 30 elephants, is giving the villagers sleepless nights as it had pulled down over 11 houses within a span of two days and destroyed crops in several acres of land.
Since then, the villagers have been living in constant fear and staying awake all the night apprehending further attacks by the marauding elephants.
The herd is seen divided into two groups with each consisting of 15-17 elephants. Both the herds have stayed put in the area and are refusing to leave the place.
While one of the herds is moving in the jungle adjoining Lakraghar, Bamdera and Badulpani villages bordering Jharkhand, the other group is roaming in the jungles on the Mahabir Hill.
The herd has pulled down the houses of Sunil Dungdung, Hrudananda Rout, Raja Rout, Sagar Rout in Lakraghar village and the houses of Veronica Soreng, Christopher Soreng in Piyushpada in two days.
The pachyderms after demolishing the houses have feasted on the stored paddy and wheat crops of the villagers. Saturday, the herd entered Bamdera, Gandrotoli villages and pulled down the houses of villagers Tej Kumar Ekka, Pratima Tirkey, Premshila Tirkey and Sanjay Dungdung before devouring their crops.
The villagers do not move out of their houses after evening and wait for the arrival of the herd with bated breaths. They burn torches and burst firecrackers to scare away animals but that fails to make any impact on the pachyderms that go on a rampage throughout the night before leaving for jungle in the morning.
The herd on the Mahabir Hill has similarly unleashed a reign of terror in the adjoining villages as it pulled down the house of Dusha Kishan and the compound wall of Madhu Kamar in Salepali village. Later, the herd strayed into the farmland of Mukund Rana and destroyed his standing crops.
After reports surfaced, forest guard Chandni Dehuri of Subdega forest section visited the villages and made an assessment of the loss while the district BJD secretary Sudam Bhoi met the affected villagers and gave financial assistance to them.
PNN
