Jumbo conflict deepens

Goalpara: The man-elephant conflict in Goalpara district has worsened with six deaths and 10 injuries within the first five months this year.

A middle-aged man from Solmari Kalyanpur under Agia police station died in such an attack on Thursday.

Sushil Rabha, who went to cut bamboo behind his house, suddenly faced the jumbo devouring jackfruit from a tree in his neighbour's house. Though the man tried to escape under the cover of the bamboo bushes, the elephant chased and held him with its trunk and thrashed him on the ground.

Villagers then came together and tried to chase the elephant away and also informed the district forest office.

However, allegedly no forest personnel came to retrieve the body even several hours after the incident. Police arrived several hours later and retrieved the body and sent it for post mortem.

Residents of Kalyanpur village complained that the same elephant has caused large scale damage in the entire area under Agia police station.

"This particular animal does not move with its herd. Moreover, it moves fast and silently. We are petrified of the animal," a resident said.

According to forest department sources, a herd of 22 elephants has set up camp in the neighbouring Pancharatna Hill and occasionally visits adjacent areas like Makri, Solmari, Kalyanpur and Budhipara.

Reacting to Thursday's incident, divisional forest officer Acharya Goswami said most of the elephants moving around in Goalpara district have come down from Garo hills in Meghalaya but have failed to return to their original habitat as people in the border areas have blocked the elephant corridors.

"Men have not only encroached into forest areas but have also blocked the elephant corridors leading to maximum conflicts," Goswami said.

Sources alleged that it is the rampant felling of trees that makes these jumbos aggressive and they chase men whenever they find a chance.


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