RANCHI: As wild elephants continue to wreak havoc in the Gomia region of Bokaro in Jharkhand, forest officials have deployed drones to track jumbo movement.
According to Bokaro Divisional Forest Officer, Sandeep Shinde, the Forest Department has deputed a special team of 19 experts from West Bengal along with six teams of Quick Response Teams (QRT).
The DFO said that drones have been deployed to track the movement of the wild elephants.
“We have come to know through drone footages that the wild tuskers are presently active around Luguburu hills of Bokaro,” said the DFO. He added that the herd is expected to move towards Chorgawa, Murpa or Dakasaram villages.
Regular elephant sightings and fatal attacks in the region has sparked fear and outrage among villagers.
The DFO also appealed villagers to cooperate with forest teams. Recently, when a team went to investigate an elephant attack, they were held hostage by a group of angry villagers. The DFO has requested villagers to not hold forest officials hostage as it will bring their morale down.
According to DFO, a herd of 42 wild elephants were active in the area, which has been split into smaller parts and are roaming in Bokaro and Ramgarh. The behaviour of the herd has changed, allegedly due to the fragmented groups. A particularly violent group of five elephants has been roaming in the area and attacking people, the DFO said.
The herd of wild elephants killed three members of the same family in Chutki Punnu village on Thursday.
On Saturday, the same herd entered Gangpur village under Mahuatand police station area, and attacked a house as the family attempted to flee to the rooftop. A young boy and his grandfather were killed on the spot, and four other members of their family, including two minors, were injured.
A few days ago, the elephants had dragged Ravindra Dangi out of his Maruti van and trampled him to death.
Alarmed villagers accused the forest department of failing to provide adequate security measures despite recurring incidents.
Amid a rise in the number of elephant attacks, claiming at least 25 lives in eleven days across the state, the Jharkhand government is preparing a 10-year vision and climate plan to mitigate man-animal conflicts and restore the forest cover.
The vision plan also includes a rescue center, spread over 5-10 hectares of land, at the headquarter level for the ‘rogue’ elephants, like the one that is creating trouble in Chaibasa, Ramgarh, Bokaro and Palamu.