Jumbos create havoc in Chhattisgarh village
By IANSTuesday, February 2, 2010
RAIPUR - About 25 families in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district have not slept since Sunday when three wild elephants rampaged through a forest village, demolishing five houses and injuring one person, a forest official said Tuesday.
The jumbos, who Sunday night entered Bagra village in Surguja, some 400 km north from capital Raipur, have demolished five mud-built houses and injured a person Monday night. The elephants continue to camp in the village.
Some 25 families sought the help of the local forest officials Tuesday to chase away the three wild tuskers who are now staying in the village, the official told IANS.
The villagers have informed the forest officials that they have not slept for two nights and plan to migrate to safer areas if the elephants are not driven away.
Forest officials here say that 29 people were trampled to death by elephants in 2009 in Chhattisgarh with majority of deaths reported from the man-elephant conflict-hit state’s vast northern region, comprising Surguja, Jashpur, Koria, Korba and Raigarh districts.
The state government paid Rs.42 lakh as compensation to families who lost their members in jumbo attacks in 2009.
