A safe living atmosphere has become a thing of past for the villagers of the district living near forest areas on the border of Chhattisgarh.
For, elephants have constantly been sneaking into those villages from across the border and going on a rampage killing human beings and damaging property.
Three months back, a tusker had killed six persons in quick succession in the areas under Sundargarh and Ujjalpur forest ranges.
Reports said one M Barla (50) of a village in Balishankara block which shares border with Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha, was killed by elephants in neighbouring Chhattisgarh. The body was brought to the village after three days.
Sundargarh DFO Arjun Behera said Barla had gone to collect firewood and the incident occurred in a forest under Tapakera range of Jashpur division in Chhattisgarh, a stone’s throw away from the victim’s village. He said around the same time, another villager of Bileimunda range of Hemgir block in the district was killed in elephant attack in Raigarh division of Chhattisgarh.
The DFO said a herd of 12 elephants is holed up near a water body in the adjacent Chhattisgarh and is frequently intruding into Sundargarh villages. He said recently a herd from Chhattisgarh wreaked havoc in Khampur village under Subdega block for over three days.
Khampur villagers said 12 houses were damaged in elephant attack. The DFO said they are keeping a watch on the movement of elephants. Earlier, between December 25 last year and January 6, a tusker had killed five persons in Ujjalpur range while one person was killed in Sundargarh and the tusker died on January 11 in captivity.