A herd of about 21 elephants have been laying siege to the Athagarh-Bhubaneswar road via Mundali for hours near Dalakhai temple coming through the Sukasan Reserve Forest every afternoon for the last four days.
These animals are seen halting in Sukasan forest during daytime and venturing into Khalakhala and Brahmanabasta forests in the afternoon for movements and in quest of food.
When these pachyderms pass the district road near Dalakhai temple here, it is found that only two or three elephant watchers escort them with traditional tools like torches. No weapons or crackers have been supplied to the elephant watchers for their quick and prompt action to escort the big animals.
Officers of the range seldom monitor the elephant watchers during their duty, alleged some of the field staffers, requesting anonimity.
Since it is the harvest season of the vegetables, the farmers of the area are spending sleepless nights in apprehension of loss of their vegetables and farming by elephants.
Several vegetable growers of the area have lodged complaints with the local forest offices to protect their fields from the scourge of the elephants, but the officials have ignored them on the plea of staff and fund crunch. Apart from this, when the elephants pass through the paddy fields, the newly grown saplings are damaged.