Hindol/Boinda/Baripada: Elephants are wreaking havoc with paddy and vegetables in parts of Hindol in Dhenkanal district, Boinda in Angul district and Betanoti in Mayurbhanj district.
Local were upset over continued depredation by the jumbos in Bunsapokhari panchayat in Dhenkanal district. Two forest officials visited the village Saturday.
Angry locals detained two officials and blocked the Hindol-Angul road for hours, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded.
Over last 15 days, animals have been damaging crops, but the forest department is allegedly doing nothing. The two officials had told their higher-ups about their detention by locals.
Another report from Kishorenagar said a herd of 12 elephants has been on a damaging spree in the areas under Handapa range. They have damaged 5,000 cauliflowers, 200 plantain trees and 100 mango trees Friday night.
The animals have also trampled crops in acres of land. Farmers alleged that the forest department is neither coming out to assess the crop damage nor driving the animals out of the range.
Handapa ranger Chaitanya Behera said a special squad has been formed to drive the animals out.
He assured that affected farmers would be provided with compensations. Reports from Baripada said that elephants from Jharkhand and Similipal sanctuary have caused extensive damage to crops in Betanoti range.
A herd of 25 elephants from Jharkhand and 10 from Similipal caused havoc in Dantiamuhan and Chitrada areas. Due to presence of elephants, many villages in the region are reeling from darkness as the energy department has snapped power supply for safety of animals.
PNN