A herd of wild elephants has been wreaking havoc in Laikera and Kolabira block under Jharsuguda district since Thursday.
On Saturday night, the elephants entered into Harijanpara village and destroyed houses and also pulled down a mud wall near the village and consumed paddy.
"The elephants damaged my house, wall and ate up two sacks of paddy," said Pusplata Mahananda, a resident of Harijanpara under Laikera block.
On Thursday late night, around six elephants had entered the villages of Kolabira block and damaged paddy crops and houses, besides causing colossal loss to the sugarcane crops in the locality. The elephants had plundered the whole area and damaged the crops and houses, said Khirod Chandra Dash of Jianjor village. They consumed paddy and rice kept inside the house of one Surendra Sahu of Kulupali village and also damaged his vegetable field.
When the villagers ousted , three elephants in two groups damaged sugar cane crops of Suren Bagar of Tareikela and Santosh Bisi. The unruly herd also damaged a house of one Ramakant Pradhan, a resident of Amnapali and destroyed food crops, said Kolabira Panchayat Committee president Jayanti Bahuk.
"We have informed the forest officials. The Forest Department has promised to compensate for our losses, but it is a matter of time," she said.