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Migrating
elephants scare villagers in Jharkhand
by Girija Shankar Ojha
Ranchi:
Fear grips people with bad memories of crop destruction
in Jharkhand as hundreds of elephants returned to the
area while on their annual migration sojourn. With standing
crops in the fields, the farmers are a worried lot. They
fear the arrival of elephants from the nearby forests
trespassing into the fields for food. After the monsoon,
herds of wild elephants move out to the nearby forests
and migrate out to Orissa, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.
The elephants return to the region during the months of
February-March in search of food and rampage the fields
and entire villages en route. "These elephants trouble
us a lot. We have no option but to keep bamboo sticks
in our hands when we go out in the fields. These elephants
come in large groups and destroy our fields," said Mansu
Ram, a villager. The forest officials in the region said
that with the active participation of villagers, they
are setting up trackers to monitor the migration route
of the jumbos to minimise the destruction caused by them
by straying into the villages posing a threat to life
and property including standing crops. "These elephants
come through a particular corridor. We have placed trackers
to guard the corridor. The trackers monitor the movement
of the elephants and the route that they take. We are
trying to ensure that these elephants do not cause further
loss to the villagers," said Shashi Nand Kuliar, conservator
of forest, wildlife, Jharkhand. Many people have been
trampled to death and dozens of houses destroyed by elephants
in the villages lining the forestland in the past. Villagers
shirk from moving around freely. Forest officials, however,
maintain that elephants harm only on provocation.
-Feb
19, 2009
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