Elephant herd damages paddy stock and houses in Bonai

Sundergarh: Tension prevailed at Deogaon in Bonai block of Sundergarh district after a herd of seven elephants strayed into human settlement and destroyed paddy stocks, crops in several hectares of agricultural land today.

On getting information, officials of Deogaon Forest department reached the spot and have launched a massive operation to drive the elephants back into the forest.

“As soon as we got information, we reached the spot and snapped the electric supply to the area. An operation has been launched to drive back the jumbos into the forest and steps are being taken to keep the pachyderms away from the human settlement,” said Bonai forester, Sadashib Patra.

The forest department official further informed that this is the first instance in which the elephant herd tried to sneak into Bonai town. Moreover, the forest officials are alert and adequate steps are being taken to drive back the herd.