A Central Government committee may have found the mid-day meal (MDM) menu served in Jharkhand schools stale and disinteresting, but jumbos are loving it very much! little children of Naya primary school at Hiratand of Jamtara, about 200 kilometers from Ranchi, saw a herd of unwanted guests about a month ago that had come to share their platter. The surprised school goers though ran for their lives while the big herd of about 40-odd elephants feasted on the grains stored for cooking MDM at their school premises.
If Forest Department officials are to be believed, incidents of pachyderms attacking primary schools of Jharkhand, especially those who are falling right into what is identified as elephant corridors, have gone up considerably in recent times.
“I have got so many complaints regarding elephants raiding schools. It is well known that now-a-days there is a significant change coming into the wild animal’s behaviour. They are looking for grains, mahua and other eatable items stored in houses. This has prompted them to even raid primary schools where food grains are stored for cooking MDM,” said Satish Chandra Ray, Divisional Forest Officer of Dhanbad.
As per an estimate, cases of wild pachyderms attacking human habitants in the State have gone up. From 26 casualties in 2009-10, it has seen a spurt in 2011 with 65 while 93 others have been injured. The figures crossed 800 human deaths since Jharkhand separated from Bihar in 2000 and mostly concentrated in Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Dumka, Dalma, Ranchi and Palamau Tiger Reserve regions. Though, raids on schools for the sake of MDM are newer amid all these.
“I have also received cases of elephants attacking schools as the villagers and teachers come to us seeking compensations for the damage. Elephants had dug a big hole in the wall of a school and lifted and destroyed the food materials stored. The herd had also
broken the boundary wall in their pursuit for food. A few days ago, I got another complaint about the animal raiding a poultry farm to eat the chicken feed,” said P Ray, DFO of Jamtara.
The MDM feast nevertheless involves the forest department as it is supposed to be custodian of the wild animals roaming in jungles and infuses monitory compensation onto it. In a recently held meeting of RCCFs at Ranchi the incidents were also brought to the notice of PCCF AK Malhotra who directed the field officials to adhere to elephant depredation schemes running in the State even more vigorously.
“Members of village committee and school authorities came to me and sought for compensation as their school kitchen was damaged and about 99 kg of rice stored for MDM was taken away by the herd of elephants. I have forwarded the application for physical damage done to the building but it is pending as we are short of fund under the head. For rice, we have no such provision though and the schools administration would adjust this in the stock,” said the Jamtara DFO.
As many as 14 districts of the State are considered highly infested by the moving herds that also roam around forests of adjoining States such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.