Around 20 wild jumbos strayed into villages under Bairi forest range in Jajpur district and damaged paddy and vegetable crops recently.
Elephants stayed put in the locality forcing villagers to stay indoors to avoid any conflicting situation. Some villagers built machas on the trees to save their crops. They beat drums and blast crackers to drive out the jumbos.
On receiving information, forest ranger of Bairi Abhiram Jena and other forest staff rushed to the villages and examined damages caused by the jumbos. The villagers claimed that elephants were frequently camping at Samia, Bhalumara, Pubuli, Purnachadrapur, Siaria, Haridapala, Solari, Siha, Safa and other villages. One among the elephants had been frequenting the villages during night hours. It is said that the pachyderms had also damaged ten houses recently.The villagers faulted the Forest Department for failing to take any concrete measures to prevent the elephants from intruding into their neighbourhood.
They threatened to resort to protest, if the Forest Department failed to find a permanent solution to the elephant menace. “Elephant movement has been reported in these areas as many elephants strayed from the nearby Kapilas forest. Announcements were made asking public not to step out of their houses after evening.