Residents burn red chilli to prevent elephants from entering villages, houses in Ramgarh

Ramgarh: Amid the unpredictable movements of elephants in the district, the Ramgarh administration has appealed to people living in vulnerable zones to keep red chilli handy as its burning will help the jumbos maintain distance from human habitations. Last week, six people were trampled by elephants, prompting the administration to sound an alert in the district.Following the administration and forest officials’ advice, several villagers have already started burning the red chilli at the entry points of villages and near houses in the evening. Village youths are also keeping vigil on elephant movement from rooftops with the help of flashlights, distributed by the forest department to elephant-affected villages. Pannalal Mahto, a resident of Kundru-Saraiya village in Ramgarh, said, “I have started burning chilli to protect the village from elephants and encouraged others to do so.”Notably, a 32-year-old brick kiln labourer, Kajal Devi, was trampled to death in Kundru-Saraiya village when she moved out of her hut to attend to nature’s call earlier this week. She did not see the elephants due to dense fog. Since then, the village has been under the grip of elephant terror. In successive events, five more were trampled in different pockets of the district.The villagers are also prepared to beat traditional drums and burst firecrackers to ward off the tuskers.Ramgarh forest range officer Bateshwar Paswan said, “Five QRTs have been active to keep a close vigil on elephants, equipped with burning torches, high flash torches, drums, and firecrackers. No reports of fresh movement of the jumbos have been received till now. We think that the herds are hiding in the forest and are likely to move at night.”A total of 36 elephants were spotted in various herds on Saturday, and a large herd of 18 elephants was driven away to Kankebar and Masmohana forest. The herd has already crossed the highway in the Chutupalu valley.