Herd of 45 elephants wreaks havoc in Angul

Angul: Panic gripped the outskirts of Angul town Friday after a herd of about 45 elephants entered Kangula, Bentapur and nearby areas, damaged houses and destroyed crops on farmlands. For the past 10 days, the herd has been roaming in and around Bentapur, Gopinathpur, and Ankul villages, causing widespread damage.

The elephants have reportedly destroyed several houses and ravaged paddy crops spread across hundreds of acres. The herd blocked the road near the Padmapada Math in Gopinathpur Friday and charged at an auto-rickshaw. The driver narrowly escaped without injuries, witnesses said. According to sources, the elephants migrated from the Dhenkanal forest division to Angul about a month ago. Since then, they have been moving through the forest ranges of Angul, Talcher, and Bantala.

Two days ago, they destroyed a house in Gopinathpur. They entered Bentapur village Thursday night, damaging farmlands belonging to residents Bibekananda Rath, Pratap Kumar Nath, Prabin Nath, Santosh Khuntia, Abinas Behera, Saudamini Behera, Purnachandra Dhara, Bhaskar Dhara, Surath Behera, and Sudam Behera. The herd, which includes six calves, spends the daytime near Padmapada Math and moves towards areas without solar fencing after sunset. Locals said fear has spread as the elephants often appear near the NALCO plant road, disrupting traffic movement and posing a risk to commuters.

Forest officials have not made enough efforts to drive the elephants away, and the crop damage assessment is being delayed, residents alleged. Angul Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Nitish Kumar said steps are being taken to drive the herd back to a safer forest zone. “We have deployed additional staff from neighbouring forest divisions to ensure public safety. The crop damage is being assessed through relief camps, and compensation will be provided soon,” he said.

 

 

 

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