Thursday, December 07, 2017

Jumbo rampage in Digboi village

A herd of 30 wild elephants, that came out from Upper Dehing reserve forest and entered Balijan and Borjan village, has created panic for the past month, destroying crops.

The village falls under Digboi forest division in Tinsukia district.

"I have lost 300 bighas of crops to rampaging elephants. Every year, the elephants come from the reserve forest and spark terror in our village. We have been spending sleepless nights for several days now," said Arun Das, a resident of Borjan village.

He said they had informed the forest department about the elephant depredation.

The elephant herds are spotted in the area every day.

Harinaryan Changing, a farmer of Balijan village in Tinsukia district, said, "Every night the herd comes out from Upper Dehing reserve forest and destroys our paddy fields. We cultivate rice once a year and the harvest is our only sustenance but it seems that this year we cannot save our paddy fields."

Though man-elephant conflict in these areas is nothing new, the frequency of incidents has increased manifold in recent years, mainly because of the loss of elephant habitat because of clearing of forests.

Digboi forest ranger Parineeta Singh told The Telegraph on Sunday, "We have less manpower but are still doing our best to save wildlife. We have provided kerosene, crackers and torches to the villagers to drive the elephants away. This year there is a big herd comprising 70 to 80 elephants and we are having a tough time driving them away. We are keeping a watch on the Bogipani and Golai elephant corridors," Singh added.

She added that this year the elephants had destroyed many paddy fields in Digboi.

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