Villagers spend sleepless night due to elephant menace

Subarnapur, 6/12: Villagers in Ulunda forest range of Subarnapur district are spending sleepless night due to the elephant menace. The elephant herds, which have strayed away from the forest towards human habitations in search of food, are eating away the ripe paddy crops and destroying their houses. {"id":21592,"sizeSlug":"large"} This menace was first experienced in Tarabha area of Ulunda block first. And their moving ahead to other areas, causing headache for the villagers. {"id":21593,"sizeSlug":"large"} The villagers are adopting various means to drive the elephant herds away. Some of them are weilding lathis and some others fire balls. Others are beating drums to drive them away. Villagers of all the age groups are all engaged in this work. But the elephant herd are not moving an inch. This was the scene at the Badamal village under Ulunda forest range. The elephant herds have been spreading terror in the village for the last few days. The menace is starting at the sun set. The pachyderms are entering into paddy fields and harvest yards to eat away the ripe paddy. Whatever they are eating away, they are destroying much more. Repeated requests to the forest personnel have yielded no result. The villagers  have therefore taken efforts to drive the elephant herds away themselves. The elephant herds have wrecked havoc in and around the village. Not only they are entering into paddy fields and harvest yards in search of food, they are also entering into the village, pulling down the houses and eating away the food stuff stocked inside. The elephants have already destroyed five houses within a week. The villagers are not sleeping inside their house out of elephant scare. They are leaving children and women in relatives' house located in other villages. The affected villagers have urged the forest department to pay compensation for the losses and drive the elephant herds out from their village. ।