ROURKELA: Panic gripped residents of Birmitrapur in Sundargarh district after a wild tusker ventured into human settlements and roamed freely on the streets of the bordering town keeping forest officials on toes on Friday.
The tusker reportedly came out of the nearby forest and walked along National Highway (NH)-143 before entering Birmitrapur town at around 9 am. Residents were taken aback on spotting the wild elephant walking very close to their houses and scurried for cover in panic.
On being informed, officials of Rourkela forest division (RFD) rushed to the town with members of elephant squad. The forest personnel launched efforts to drive the elephant back into forest and simultaneously alerted people through megaphone speaker to stay at a safe distance and avoid any adventure.
As many curious locals thronged the streets to catch a glimpse of the jumbo, police had a tough time managing the crowd. Vehicular traffic on NH-143 remained disrupted for around an hour due to the elephant’s presence. Sources said no untoward incident was reported during the tusker’s presence in the town.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Rourkela Yashobanta Sethi said the tusker was safely guided to the nearby forest where it is still holed up. Members of the elephant squad are closely monitoring the movement of the tusker and trying to guide it into dense forest.
This was not the first time an elephant ventured into the bordering town. The DFO said in the last two years, jumbos have managed to reach Birmitrapur. In fact, jumbo herds or single elephants have entered Birmitrapur town every year since 2013. At times, the jumbos even reached thickly-populated areas.
In November 2013, an elephant chaser identified as Marianus Toppo was trampled to death when he along with others was driving away a jumbo herd from Deokarandafai area of Birmitrapur town.