Sunday, March 15, 2009

Elephants on the rampage in Midnapur villages

The Hindu
February 23, 2009

Midnapur: A herd of 70 to 75 elephants of the Dalma forest have strayed into five villages of West Midnapur district and damaged large tracts of crops and destroyed several houses.

District Forest Officer Milan Kanti Mandal said the pachyderms damaged paddy and sugarcane in about 45 hectres in Tarrui, Gopalbar, Pundra, Sinda, Mohanpur villages since Saturday. They also destroyed five mud houses, he said.

Villagers alleged that the forest department, despite repeated requests, did not take any steps to drive out the elephants.

Mr. Mandal said four ‘Hulla Parties’ had been deployed to push the elephants to the Nayagram forest.

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