Three days after houses of 17 villagers were damaged by a group of wild elephants in Koilahwa village under Manendragarh forest range of the Koriya district, District Collector S Prakash reached Narayanpur to meet the affected people on Thursday.
The elephant menace hit families are staying in a makeshift camp in Narayanpur Panchayat Bhawan. A group of three wild elephants including a male tusker, a female and a calf had been creating trouble in the villages situated near the jungles. The group of wild elephants had damaged the houses in Koilahwa village located near the jungle on the intervening night of January 4 and 5. The Collector also inspected houses damaged by the giant pachyderms.
later on, he met with affected people and assured of providing all necessary assistance. “The State Government is with people affected by wild elephant problem and district administration will extend all possible assistance to them,” he said. The Collector also inquired about damage caused to crop by wild elephants. He also asked about compensation amount provided to the affected persons by forest officials. Prakash directed the forest department officials to promptly make damage assessment and inform district administration soon. He instructed forest officials to distribute compensation amount from fund available with Surguja Tribal Development Authority.