Elephants destroy paddy in Bargarh

Bargarh: A herd of wild elephants wreaked havoc by destroying  huge quantities of paddy at a mandi in Dahigaon market yard of Padampur area in Bargarh today.

According to reports, around 50 bags of paddy have been crushed by the jumbos who strayed into the market yard area from the nearby forest in the wee hours today.

The farmers alleged that around 30-35 elephants have been frequently straying into the human settlements.

"All of a sudden a herd of elephants entered the mandi and started damaging the paddy stacks. Later, with the help of locals we chased them away but we have suffered heavy loss" said a farmer Deepti Podh.

After getting information about the incident, a team of forest officials reached the spot to take stock of the situation.

Earlier, the pachyderms had damaged crops in several acres of land in Dubulabahal, Dhauramunda, Pandaripani and Ichapali villages near Bargarh.