The Baleswar district administration has started providing free kitchens for persons taking shelter in the identified venues even as the migrant elephants continue to wreck havoc in Nilgiri.
The administration began the free kitchens after the locals embarked on agitation demanding cooked food for the affected people. The jumbos besides causing widespread damages to the paddy crops of around 400 acres of land have also been damaging mud-and-thatched houses in villages. About 60 houses were pulled down by the herd during its movement in the villages of Hatimunda, Naranpur, Bayarsahi, Gopalpur, Pundal, Sataranda, Dalkisahi, Telardihi, Buddusahi, Ambajhar, Astarukhi, Bhaunriabada and Chandrapur.
The district administration has identified eight temporary shelters to accommodate the affected people after dusk till dawn. Around 750 people are taking shelter in the identified school buildings during night time. While as many as nearly 95 elephants from Jharkhand have sneaked into the district crossing neighbouring Mayurbhanj district via West Bengal, another herd of 11 pachyderms is waiting in the forests under the Betnoti range in Mayurbhanj district.
So far, one person has been killed and another injured in elephant attack in Niligiri. On the other hand, two adult female elephants of the herd have died due to different reasons while another delivered a calf on Saturday. Kuldiha Forest Range Officer Rabinarayan Mohapatra said, “The herd is now in the border of Tinikosia and Kuldiha sanctuary. While they are remaining in forest during daytime, by evening they are moving out from the forest to villages. During their movements, they are invading the villages and causing damages. The district administration is providing cooked food to those who are taking shelter in the night camps.”