People in many villages in Keonjhar district are in a state of fear now as elephant herds have damaged houses and paddy crops and are still moving near their villages.
A herd of 23 elephants destroyed 12 houses, out of which three were completely broken and nine partly damaged, in Suluguda village under Champua forest range during the last 24 hours. Similarly, 13 elephants coming in a group have damaged paddy in acres of land in Jamunalia village under the Keonjhar Sadar range.
While people were expecting a good harvest this year, elephant menace has broken their dreams.Meanwhile, DFO Santosh Joshi has assured that people would be given compensation for houses and crops damaged by pachyderms. He too stated that trenches would be dug in vulnerable areas as a permanent solution to the elephant menace.