As a herd of jumbos continues to wreck havocs in the Nilgiri area, panicked residents close to Nilgiri and Kuldiha forests warned the administration to take adequate action to save their life and properties or else they would hit the streets.
The villagers stated that since the migration was unseasonal, the district administration was not prepared to combat the menace.
They alleged that till date the administration didn’t form a coordination committee to protect their property and chase the elephants out.
According to sources, as many as 35 pachyderms supposedly of Jharkhand including tuskers, females and calves have sneaked into Nilgiri forests via Bengal crossing Mayurbhanj from Remuna end, giving sleepless nights to the locals.
The are devouring the vegetables ,fruits in the fields and stored grains as well by breaking the houses and granaries. During their about a week stay they have pulled down as many as 16 residential houses.
Earlier while seven houses were damaged, again on Saturday, nine houses in the Tenda area were damaged by them. These elephants while are hiding in the forests during day time, after sunset, they are inflicting the damages.
Several people in the fear of life fled their houses and were taking shelter in their relatives’ houses. Since Nilgiri is experiencing sporadic rains, the affected villagers’ woes are compounded.
After receiving information regarding the damages by the elephants and commotion among the residents, local MLA Sukanta Nayak meanwhile visited the affected patches on Sunday and assured of doing the needful .
Range officer, Nilgiri, Sukumar Das said all the traditional means like beating drums , bursting crackers and playing fire balls are used to scare the jumbos and drive them out . Besides the department personnel, the Sabuja Bahini volunteers are on job to protect the life and property of the people.