Angul, Oct 12: A herd of elephants wreaks havoc in Angul villages causing massive destruction of paddy and other standing crops in and around Balasinga & Balisahi villages.
Farmers are in sheer distress as the herd of at least 42 jumbos including a few tuskers, female and calves, are yet grazing in the paddy fields bringing large scale devastation for the graining paddy.
According to the reports, the herd of elephants reportedly passed from the Hindol forest range and entered the Angul Forest division parading through the Kansara village late at night on Friday. After destroying acres of paddy fields in the Kansara, Adiaghai, Bherubania, Basala and Lokeipasi, the pachyderms marched to the Balasinga village and gathered in a mango grove in the evening. However, the herd of jumbos grazed & destroyed acres of land in the area creating panic in the locality.
On being informed forest officials and elephant tracker teams from Bantala Range visited the site and tried to disperse the herd towards the forest but in vain.
As of now, the herd is found straying in the area whereas a number of adult tuskers are sleeping under mango trees, according to the locals.
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