A herd of elephants in Kandhal reserve forest under Talcher forest range of Angul division has been spreading panic here. The awestruck villagers are remaining awake at night fearing attack from the pachyderms for the last three days.
Sources said about 10 to 12 elephants have strayed into several villages under Kandhal gram panchayat and have gone on a rampage. They have destroyed houses, banana and mango trees and summer corps worth lakhs of rupees.
In view of the elephant menace and the local administration failing to provide timely aid to the victim villagers, local villagers led by the sarpanch of Kandhal panchayat and samiti members, besides BJP leader Kalandi Samal, held a blockade at the Talcher Range Office.
They demanded safety and immediate compensation for the affected families, apart from deployment of special squad to beef up patrolling in the area. The affected villagers alleged that till date no action was taken by the forest department to drive out the elephants.
"The elephants are straying out every year and destroying properties and killing people. But the administration remains silent all the time," said Kandhal sarpanch Rangadhar Nahak.
Range Officer Anant Pradhan held discussion with the demonstrators and gave a written assurance to fulfill the demands.Among others, BJP leader Jajati Pattanaik, Samiti member Chaitanya Pradhan, Biranchi Pani, Prakash Moharana and Peskar Gadanayak were present.