Keonjhar: A herd of elephants which was marooned in an islet in river Baitarani managed to escape into a forest after rain subsided Monday.
According to sources, the herd comprising a tusker, six females and a calf strayed into the area in search of food and somehow reached the islet. But due to incessant rain, the river was swollen and the pachyderms were not able to escape.
On being informed by villagers, forest personnel rushed to the elephants’ rescued but failed to wade through the swollen river.
However, the villagers managed to reach the islet by wading through the water and fed the animals. Sunday night, the elephants managed to escape into Mangalpur forest when the rain stopped and the level of flood water in the river went down. However, the villagers were clueless as to how the elephants went to the islet.
Meanwhile, resentment is brewing among the villagers as they do not receive compensation from the administration despite as elephants destroying paddy fields and flattening their standing crops and houses. Residents of Patna, Champua, Bhuyan, Kuanga Pidha, Badbil and Ghatagaon areas are alarmed over the menace. PNN
