Jumbo trouble at Panagarh depot

KOLKATA: A wild elephant, probably a loner from a Dalma herd, seems to have taken a liking for the wooded area around the Army’s ordnance depot in Panagarh, Burdwan.
On Sunday, nearly 100 forest department officials and villagers making up five hullah parties were unable to drive the pachyderm back towards Bankura district across the Damodar from where it had reached Panagarh nearly three weeks ago.“For a long time, we have been trying to drive the elephant back towards Bankura. On Sunday, we even tried to tranquillize and relocate it. The group split into five teams and tried to locate the animal. In the end, one of the teams did succeed in locating it but when a hullah party member got too close, he was attacked. He has been admitted to a hospital in Durgapur with serious injuries,” a forest department official said.

According to an official in the Army’s Eastern Command, the elephant entered the wooded area around the magazine (where arms, ammunition and explosives of the garrison at Panagarh are stored) on March 15 after breaking down a gate.

“Once inside, it was unable to relocate the gate through which it had entered and started moving around in the area. The entire area is fenced. Forest department officials have been trying to relocate it but without much success. We just hope they succeed soon as our personnel are also at risk,” he said.

Movement of elephant herds from the Dalma range to Burdwan via Purulia and Bankura is not uncommon. However, this elephant has created a unique situation. Though villagers are not directly at risk, access to the magazine or ordnance depot is crucial for troops.

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