BARIPADA: A herd of 19 elephants went on a rampage spree in Raruan block of Mayurbhanj district on Saturday night and destroyed five houses besides injuring a widow. The elephants also ate up foodgrains stored in houses of some of the victims.
As per reports, houses of Dhruba Charan Naik, Ketuki Naik, Srikant Naik and Nakula Naik of Phulcomp village in Nuagoan panchayat of Raruan block were partially damaged by the herd. Sabi Berua, a widow of Galusahi village, sustained injuries after the wall of her house collapsed following the elephant attack.
This apart, three houses were damaged on Friday night by the marauding herd, informed forest officials of Karanjia Territorial Division.
Sources said the herd, which includes three tuskers and four calves from neighbouring Jharkhand, sneaked into Raruan and has been creating havoc for the last 15 days. People of Raruan and its nearby villages of Jadipada, Galusahi, Kalanda, Angarpada, Jamundti and a few others under Sukruli panchayat are spending sleepless nights in fear of the marauding herd. They prefer to stay indoors after sunset.
Sabi had a narrow escape after a tusker of the herd attacked her house when she was asleep in the night. A portion of the wall fell on her following which she sustained injuries. The jumbo ate the rice stored in the house too.
Sabi said she is not economically sound to repair her damaged house. ‘‘Following the attack, I have no place to sleep or cook food,’’ she said. Similarly, the livelihood of Devraj Mohanta (55) has been affected after the elephant herd damaged the walls of his house on Friday night. Devraj ran a grocery shop from a portion of his house. The house of Ghanashyam Soi (58) of Kalanda village under Angarpada panchayat was also partially damaged by the herd. The elephants also finished off rice, paddy and mustard stored in Ghanashyam’s house.
Forester Kishore Kumar Panigrahi said a group of 50 staff is keeping a close watch on the movement of the herd which has damaged some banana orchards and standing maize crop on a few patches of land. The herd has also damaged vegetable orchards and paddy saplings in around 0.5 hectares of land.
‘‘Forest officials, including the Revenue Inspector, have rushed to the affected villages to assess the damage,’’ Panighrahi said and added that the herd is now in Kesharikund forest, a few kms from Phulcomp village which is near Keonjhar district. Moreover, people have been asked not to store Mahuli, a strong local alcoholic beverage, in homes which attract the elephants due to its flavour, he added.