Ramgarh Elephants: Herd That Killed 3 Pushed to Corridor, Alert Issued

Ramgarh: The herd of five elephants that killed three persons in Banda and Murpa villages of Ramgarh district early on Friday have been pushed into the traditional elephant corridor in the eastern part of the under-construction Bharatmala Pariyojana, forest officials said on Saturday.

Nitish Kumar, divisional forest officer (DFO) of Ramgarh with additional charge of Bokaro forest division, said that the herd is camping in Rav-Rav village near Nemra. “Four quick response teams equipped with firecrackers, drums and fire torches are keeping vigil on their movement of jumbos,” he said.

“We have sounded an alert for Dimra, Silli More, Korambe, Auradih, Sondimra, Sarahdih, Barlanga and Nemra and asked villagers to follow safety guidelines, which include taking shelter in concrete houses and rooftops, not going out early morning or late evening to answer the call of nature, not picking mahua flowers early morning, don’t store mahua at home as the smell attracts elephants,” Kumar, who has additional charge of Bokaro forest division, said. In Bokaro, forest officer Sundeep Shinde said that the elephants might move back towards Petarwar block to nearby villages such as Barki Punnu and Mahuatand under Gomia block. Several villages have been placed under high alert. The Bokaro administration has issued strict advisories, asking people to avoid venturing into forests, especially during early morning. “Villagers have been warned not to sleep in open areas or near brick kilns and to refrain from storing mahua,” said Shinde.