ROURKELA: For people of Sundargarh, it is a ‘jumbo-size’ Catch 22 situation. Three persons were killed by elephants in the last fortnight and in several pockets of the district, farmers are mute spectators to jumbo herds ravaging their crops. Sundargarh, Rourkela and Bonai forest divisions, sharing borders with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand are hit by elephant menace. In the last two years, elephants are sneaking into villages and around 15 persons have fallen prey to them. A lone elephant had killed nine persons in eight months from July 2009. Besides human lives they have been causing massive damage to crops and thatched houses. On Friday, a herd of 22 elephants had killed a man inside the Birmitrapur forest range before going to the adjacent Jharkhand forest.Rourkela DFO Atish Behera said Kuarnmmunda, Birmitrapur, Nuagaon and Bisra blocks are witnessing frequent straying of jumbos. He added assessment of crop loss is on and forest staff are keeping a watch on the animals. Sundargarh DFO B N Thakur said over 65 elephants that were spotted in different groups have not returned to their original habitat. Besides feasting on crops a few days ago, they killed two persons in Sadar and Bargaon blocks, he said, adding that the best they can do is to keep the animals away from villages. The Bonai forest division having vast border with Saranda forest in Jharkhand besides Keonjhar and Deogarh districts are also witnessing elephants straying into villages to feast on standing crops.Bonai DFO Atish Behera said large groups are present at Jarda, Gurundia and Tamra forest ranges along with smaller groups at Barsuan and Tensa ranges. However, none was killed so far, the DFO said.
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