Dalma jumbo herd wreaks havoc in Mayurbhanj village

BARIPADA: Despite several attempts, forest department officials have failed to send back a huge herd of elephants that strayed into Khuntapal village in Mayurbhanj district's Rasgovindpur block from Jharkhand's Dalma Wild Life Sanctuary on November 12.
The elephants have been mainly ravaging bamboo plants that are commonly found in the area. "Bamboo is a "cash crop" for the villagers.They are used for industrial purpose, particularly in the production of paper pulp," said Basanta Kumar Mohanty, range officer, Betnoti Range.
He frurther said the lush green paddy fields and several water bodies around the Asanbani reserve forest also lured the huge herd.
The range officers of Dukura, Rasgovindpur, Betnoti, Pithabata, Udala and Bangriposi, along with their staff, joined a drive to send the elephants back to Dalma on Saturday and Sunday.
Baripada DFO Bejoy Kumar Panda supervised the operation. IIC-Betnoti Sudarshan Dash also took part in the drive with his force to keep onlookers at bay.
Meanwhile,villagers affected by the elephant herd have strongly voiced their demand to bring back two pet elephants of Simlipal, Mahendra and Sova, who were taken to Khalikote to work as Kunkis and drive back wild elephants.
Mahendra and Sova were purchased by the Simlipal Tiger Reserve authorities from the Karnataka Wild Life Division and were trained to contain timber smuggling and depredation by wild elephants, the villagers said.
Forest officials, however, said kunkis cannot be used for driving away such a big herd.