Parjang: It appears to be a clip from reel life. But the video of a huge elephant chasing a man, which has gone viral, is a real life incident. And at the end of the clip when the man escapes death by a whisker, everyone heaves a sigh of relief. But more importantly the video once more demonstrates the man-animal conflict which exists here.
The 27-second video is a recording of a recent incident which happened at Damol village under the Mahabirod forest segment in Dhenkanal district.
The man who has cheated death by a few seconds has been identified as Sauria Samal. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Mandapal community hospital in Talcher after suffering a chest injury while trying to escape from the elephant. He thudded hard against a pillar while darting for cover.
Sources informed that Sauria is working as an assistant at the farmhouse of Premananda Mohanty, a resident of Jatia village.
They said that after unleashing terror at Damol village, the tusker entered the farm Thursday at around 4.00pm. Sauria came face to face with the animal accidentally. Fearing an attack he started running with all his might. The elephant also chased him and the distance between the two dwindled to a couple of feet only.
Just when it seemed that Sauria would lose the race for life, he jumped onto the verandah of a house. The narrow path forced the angry wild animal to give up the chase and for Sauria it was a second ‘beginning’ in life.
The entire scene was captured by Mohanty on his mobile. He shot the scene while hiding under the window of his farmhouse.
“Like in many parts of Odisha, the man-elephant conflict has assumed a serious proportion here. It is a perennial issue. As the elephants often sneak into our habitations in search of food, we are forced to sleep with one eye open,” some villagers observed while adding “The conflict is always one-sided and we are the worst sufferers.”
Sauria’s condition, however, is now stable. “His entire hospital expenses will be reimbursed after he submits the bills,” informed ranger Harmohan Nayak.
It should be stated here that 41 elephants have been creating terror in the locality. They operate in more than one group and hence the danger for human beings has increased manifold.
There are 15 pachyderms in Barbanka forest, one in Damol, six in Khalpal and 19 are moving on the Brahmani river bank areas.
These groups have meanwhile put the forest department in a spot of bother as they keep changing their hideouts.
Assuaging the fear of people, Nayak informed that an elephant squad, forester Ramchandra Rout and guard Krishnapriya Sahu are keeping a close watch on the movement of the tuskers.
PNN