BARIPADA: A herd of 30 elephants from neighbouring Jharkhand has been giving sleepless nights to residents of Rashgobindpur and Betnoti under Baripada forest division of Mayurbhanj district and some villages in Nilagiri area. Forest officials are finding it tough to drive away the herd which has split into smaller groups and is wreaking havoc in the orchards in these areas.
Though the jumbos have not damaged any house, people are worried as they have caused massive damage to standing paddy crops. Despite deployment of forest personnel from Betnoti, Deuli, Rashgobindpur and Dakura ranges, the elephants have been causing havoc by entering paddy fields at night.
The locals are forced to remain indoors and stay awake fearing attacks by the elephants. Baripada DFO Swayam Mallik said a group of more than 28 elephants from Dalma forest in Jharkhand sneaked into Mayurbhanj district four days ago through a reserve forest in West Bengal. After moving through Ashanbani, Dalki, Saria, Kainphulia, Patalipur, Phuljhari, Gardgadia, Badamshole and Nadpur reserve forests, the herd late on Monday night moved towards Nilagiri forest range of Balasore district.
‘We have asked people not to store country liquor and any product made of ‘mahua’ flower at home as elephants are attracted to them,” said the DFO. He said forest rangers Rabinarayan Mohanty, Anmar Jena and Ghanashyam Singh of Deuli, Dukura and Betnoti along with foresters and guards have been deployed to keep a watch on the movement of the herd.
DFO of Balasore Biswaraj Panda said the forest ranger of Nilagiri along with other staff have been directed to reach Mayurbhanj-Balasore border to watch the movement of the elephants. He said the forest ranger and staff of Kuldiha have been ordered to assist the Nilagiri ranger to drive out the elephants from the district. Panda said presently, the herd is present in Gopalpur forest and moving towards Nilagiri reserve forest. The DFO said the matter has been brought to the notice of power discom NESCO and precautionary measures are being taken by the Electricity department to prevent electrocution of the elephants.