Jumbos stray into Nuapada villages

Balangir: Panic gripped Ranibasa and Sargimunda villages of Nuapada district on Friday morning after the villagers spotted a herd of seven elephants, including four tuskers, and three others near their habitations.

Khariar forest range officer Jayaram Sabar said the herd had arrived Nuapada from the Turekela forest in Balangir district.

The forest officials are keeping tabs on the jumbos' movement.

Sources said the herd spent the Thursday afternoon in the San Maheswar jungle, and later in the evening, entered the villages under Palsada gram panchayat. The elephants destroyed large-scale rabi crops grown by the villagers here. As the herd entered human habitation, the villagers started shifting to safer places.

The forest department issued alert to the people of nearby villages to keep themselves away from the animals. They asked the people, who gathered in large number to see the animals, not to disturb them. The ranger urged people not to sleep outside their house at night - which is a common practice in the rural areas during summer.

"I ask people not to sleep outside their houses at night," said Sabar.


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