Elephant menace continues in few districts
   Date :14-Oct-2019

 
Staff Reporter :
 
PROBLEM of rampaging elephants is on rise especially in Sidhi, Umaria and Anuppur districts. Several herds of elephants are active in the area for the past two-and-half years. Concerned over the loss caused by the rampaging elephants, the Forest Department also called an expert team from West Bengal. The team of experts gave several suggestions on elephant monitoring. Three days back, a group of 15 elephants entered Singrauli area from Chhattisgarh. The group claimed two lives and left many injured. They also destroyed houses and crops in villages.
 
Field guards of the Forest Department are making continuous efforts to control elephants but it seems they have failed. Forest officials said about five months back two groups of elephants entered several districts of Madhya Pradesh from Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Assam. These rampaging elephants are errant in behaviour and they stray out in villages anonymously. To control immediate damage, forest staff somehow drives the herd and in this situation villagers too come out to deal with the elephants. To prevent elephants from being annoyed, foresters get truckloads of bananas, sugarcanes, jackfruit etc as a feast for them. Sometimes they also call fire brigade to sprinkle water on elephants to keep them entertained and engaged. Villages coming on the way of elephants are put on alert. In February 2019, a group of 45 elephants entered Sidhi district of the State from Chhattisgarh forest.
 
One of the elephants killed a woman in Kusumi Janpad. Besides, two groups of elephants are active in Bandhavgarh since past five months. On October 2018, a group of five elephants created ruckus in Umaria jungle but the herd was small, so employees rescued the four elephants. At present, group of elephants are being trained at Bandhavgarh for further management in tiger safaris.
 
According to Forest Department, in September 2018 MP Forest Department had rescued rampaging herd of elephants that had entered Sidhi district after crossing Mawai River from Chhattisgarh. This was possibly the first successful rescue operation of elephants in the State and the country. Herd of elephants had first stayed in the jungle near Kundour village of Sanjay Tiger Reserve. They destroyed huts in the village at night and ate foodgrains kept there and later destroyed crops in the fields.