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Raging jumbos destroy houses in Jharkhand village

     Purnapani (Jharkhand): Farmers in a village in Jharkhand are rebuilding their houses after they were destroyed by raging elephants searching for food. In Purnapani village, about 30 kilometers from Ranchi, the farmers have been on constant fear. "They ate our crops and entered our houses. We screamed and there were no one around. Then my brother came with a fire torch and the elephant ran away," Tembu, a farmer. Farmers said that the elephants have been plundering their poorly built thatched houses as they could not afford concrete structures that would secure them not only against wild animals but also snakes and insects. "It has broken our house. We have no other place to stay, where will I go with my children. All our belongings are out in open. It has also eaten our crops," Kamli, another farmer. The elephants attack the farmers for the newly harvested crops and also country made liquor which the farmers usually brew in this season from the new crop. With decreasing forest cover and extension of human habitations into their habitats, elephants often stray into residential areas in search of food.
-April 29, 2009

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