Odisha: Wild elephants create ruckus in Khordha

BHUBANESWAR: Wild elephants early on Sunday morning created havoc in Begunia block in Khordha district. These pachyderms damaged boundary walls of some houses by entering into human habitat.
A herd of five elephants entered Deuli panchayat’s Deuli and Dingar villages on Saturday night and stayed in the villages till early morning of Sunday. They damaged walls of houses and also boundary of village school.
Locals said the jumbos stay in the jungle near Deuli village and enter into the village during night time. “During khariff season, the jumbos damage our paddy and vegetable crops. We do not know how to stop these animals,” said a villager.
Dillip Kumar Rout, assistant conservator of forests (Khordha divison), said the jumbos are staying in the jungles of Khurda forest division. “They might have entered the villages in search of foods. We have deployed two teams there to keep eye on the movements of the wild animals,” he added.
On February 15 last year, a tusker had strayed into the horticulture farm of the Odisha University of Agriculture Technology (OUAT) at Ghatikia in the city.
In December 2017, a herd of around 22 elephants had left residents of Tangi block in Khurda district sleepless by damaging crops.