Keonjhar: There is no let-up in jumbo menace in areas under Keonjhar forest division as hundreds of elephants moving in the district continue to give sleepless nights to residents by damaging their crops, houses and properties.
According to sources, frequent incursions of elephants into human habitats have resulted in violent man-animal conflicts, with both sides experiencing heavy casualties.
The conflict is mostly witnessed in areas under Patana, Champua, Telkoi, Bhuyan and Juang Pirha, Sadar and Ghatagaon forest ranges. The jumbo herds come out from the nearby forests in search of food and water and enter the villages by the nightfall. The herds destroy standing paddy crops, alleged some of the worried farmers who have suffered crop loss.
Gaja Sathis (elephant squad), who have been deployed by the Forest department to monitor the movement of the jumbos and sensitise the villagers about the same and take steps to drive them out of human habitations to forest areas, have failed to provide safety and security to the villagers, it was alleged. The elephant herds also destroy vegetable crops, houses and other properties.
“We are toiling hard throughout the day in planting paddy seedlings in muddy farmlands but elephants stray into our fields in the evening and ruin the crops. We are spending sleepless nights to shoo away the jumbo herd and protect our lives and properties,” said Sanatan Mohanta of Maidankel, one of the affected residents. Moreover, the Energy department is disconnecting power supply at night for hours fearing electrocution of pachyderms. Power outage for longer durations leaves people of most of the villages groping in dark while children’s studies have taken a beating.
People are living in the dark and are forced to spend the nights on vigil with fire. Locals demanded the Forest officials to assess the damage and provide financial assistance to the farmers. On the other hand, the residents of the area have urged the Electricity department not to cut power supply at night on the pretext of electrocution of elephants as they are suffering a lot, despite paying the bills regularly.
To protect them from the elephant menace, many a times the villagers are using fireballs or batons along with sticks to drive away the elephants.
In order to drive away the elephants, very often they move closer to elephant herds, despite alerts by the Forest department. They also tease the jumbo herds by throwing stones and sticks at them.
Sometimes the villagers take drastic and inhuman steps that put the lives of elephants at risk. Irritated by these acts, the elephants march towards the villagers and destroy properties, crops and often kill the villagers.
Meanwhile, environmentalists have appealed to the Forest department to take steps to stop the man-elephant conflicts.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Dhanraj HD said, “We are taking all possible measures to check human- animal conflicts by making the people aware, compensating the damages and deploying elephant protection force.”
According to official reports, 21 elephants have died in the last three years. While 11 jumbos have succumbed in 2022, seven have perished in 2023 and three in 2024 (till date). Out of them, six died of electrocution, one in road accident, three in train hits and the remaining 11 in natural causes.
Similarly, while 38 persons have died in three years due to elephant attacks, 12 have lost their lives in 2022-23. Likewise, 18 and eight people were trampled by the jumbos in 2023-24 and 2024-25 so far, respectively.
PNN