Bhubaneswar: Though Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary, sprawling over an area of 193 sq km is estimated to be home to nearly 30 elephants, the Elephant Census Report 2017 revealed that there is only one pachyderm left in the sanctuary.
"We cannot rely on the findings of the census that there are no elephants in Chandaka. The elephants are moving in and out. So when the census was conducted the elephants were not there," said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Chandaka Wildlife Divsion, Kedarnath Swain.
As per the forest department, a 6-km-long stone boundary with barbed wire-fencing has been constructed on the Bhubaneswar side of the sanctuary to check movement of the pachyderms. Trenches have been dug around the sanctuary.
The All India Synchronized Elephant estimation under project Elephant of the central government was conducted simultaneously in the entire eastern region in states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal from May 9 to May 12, 2017.
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On the other hand a herd of more than 15 elephants continue to wreak havoc near Kaipadar and Jariput villages of Khurda district. Sources informed that the pachyderms have been causing similar damages across the district all throughout the year. Irate over elephant menace, the affected farmers have been protesting before the district administration without any success.
"The compensation provided by government is not sufficient. A farmer earns nearly Rs 25,000-30,000 from cultivating one acre of land but the government provides only Rs 2,000-3,000," said an affected farmer Pradip Srichandan.