Residents of the villages in forest areas under Kutra block and Badagaon Range of Sundargarh spend sleepless nights every year to save their crops and lives from elephants’ rampage. So, they have prepared spears with flambeau to tackle the jumbo menace this year.
“As forest officials are not proactive, we have been facing crop losses year after year. The Forest Department is not restoring water bodies in nearby areas and not growing sufficient trees for the elephants,” locals alleged.
On the other hand, the making of spears with flambeau has raised serious concern among animal lovers.
After the inflammable material attached to the flambeau of a spear is ignited, the villagers throw it at the elephants to drive them away. It often pierces into the bodies of jumbos and causes burn injuries. The wounds caused due to hot iron head of the spear give intense pain; hence, the wandering elephants immediately leave a human settlement and return to their wild habitats. Even to the extent, the burn wounds develop severe infections leading to untimely jumbo deaths, an animal lover stated.
Amid the perennial issue of human-elephant conflict, many animal lovers have demanded action against wrongdoer villagers. They insist that the Forest Department should make arrangements to regularly drive away elephants straying into human settlements.