Bengal team to drive away elephant herd from Ghurabandha

Jamshedpur, Oct 9: A 15-member team of mahouts from Bengal’s Bankura district reached Ghurabandha block in East Singhbhum on Saturday to drive away elephants.

The forest department had to call in a team of Mahouts from Bankura as a herd of 25 elephants reached near the human habitats.

Revealing about the wild elephant menace, an official said that at present there are three herds of 48 wild elephants anchored near the human habitats in East Singhbhum.

The forest officer said unlike the local mahouts, the mahouts from Bankura are not only very brave but also know how to perform effectively.  He said during the daytime, the mahouts use to drive the elephants by bursting crackers and in the night, they do use `mashals’ only whereas the local mahouts tend to drive the elephants from a considerable distance by bursting crackers only.

Jamshedpur Divisional Forest Officer Mamta Priyadarshi said after the elephants had entered into Ghatsila sub-division on Wednesday, the department had pressed an eight-member Quick Response Team (QRT) to drive the tuskers away. Despite making repeated attempts the elephants moved deeper into the sub-division and finally anchored at the Ghurabandha block bordering Odisha. Then only we decided to bring in a special team of mahouts from Bankura district.

The DFO pointed out that Ghurabandha block where the herd is anchored presently has sufficient water and standing paddy crops, the tuskers are reluctant to move somewhere else.

A villager  said that the forest department officials are also not doing enough to ensure the safety and security of the villagers’ lives. “We are not being provided with torchlight or any other materials which are generally supplied by the forest department when an elephant menace crops up at any human habitat,” he said. Meanwhile people are in a state of havoc due to such menace. Sometimes villagers migrate to safer places for a week or more to avoid the sudden night-time attacks of the wild elephant herds.