Elephant Damages Homes and Crops in Chatra: Forest Dept. Addresses Human-Elephant Conflict

Chatra: An elephant damaged two houses and crops on around two acres of land at Danaging village in Simaria block of Chatra late Saturday night. There has been no report of any casuality or injury suffered, forest official said.Chatra divisional forest officer (DFO) Mukesh Kumar said, “The forest department has installed an eight-km-long solar-powered fence in Simaria to curb raids by elephants in human habitats, but the elephant took a different route on Saturday night.”“Our officials have been deployed on other elephant corridors. As soon as any herd enters the district, we get information through field workers. In turn, we send alerts to the villages falling on that elephant routes to stay cautious. Elephants get attracted towards standing crops or grains stored at homes. We create awareness among villagers as not to disturb the animals or take any risk. Department will always provide speedy compensation for damages,” he advised.As elephant corridors cut through populated landscapes both in Hazaribag and Chatra districts, residents and wildlife experts stress the need for protecting migration routes, installing early warning systems and ensuring timely compensation.The Hazaribag district administration on Saturday set up a control room to minimise losses after an elephant killed two persons over the past three days.Hazaribag lies on an important elephant migration belt linking Dumka, Betla (Palamu), Giridih, Bokaro and Latehar forest divisions. Tatijharia, Chalkusha, Sadar, and Barkagaon blocks in Hazaribag are witnessing frequent elephant incursions. Elephants from Dumka enter Jharkhand’s central forests via Jamtara, Dhanbad and Giridih before moving into Hazaribag. From here, many herds pass through the Churchu forest stretch and enter Bokaro, while some retrace their route back through Dhanbad.Another major migration route originates from Betla National Park in Palamu. Herds travel through Balumath and Chatra’s Tandwa–Itkhori belt before entering Barkagaon block of Hazaribag. Officials also point to the Auranga river stretch between Palamu and Latehar as a sensitive zone. Habitat fragmentation and shrinking forest cover are forcing elephants to stray closer to human settlements.Hazaribag (east) DFO Vikash Kumar Ujjwal said, “We are also preparing plans for solar fencing on critical zones to curb human-elephant conflict besides other measures.”