A herd of over 20 elephants blocked National Highway-55 near Bali near here on Tuesday morning for about an hour. later, Forest Department officials drove them away into the nearby jungle, after which vehicular movement was restored.
Another herd of three elephants had destroyed over three acre of cucumber crop of a resident of Rajanagar village Santosh Behera on Monday night.
During the winter season, elephants come out of the jungles and enter into the human habitats in search of food and water, which are scarce in the forests.
All the schemes meant to confine the elephants to the jungles have failed and embezzlement of funds from the plan estimate has forced the animals to stray into human habitations, said sources.