By Bishnu Prasad Pokharel
Damak, July 29: Locals in different parts of Jhapa have been affected as wild elephants entered the villages and destroyed properties.
A group of wild elephants entered Ward 11 and 8 of Shivasatakshi Municipality on Monday and destroyed houses and damaged crops. “The elephants destroyed some houses and even caused damage in crops and maize fields,” said ward chairman Bhairab Kumar Shrestha.
As per Shrestha, the houses of Chandra Thebe, Bal Bahadur Rai, Bhim Kumar Rai, Anil Limbu, Ratna Rai, Tek Bahadur Rai, Nar Prasad Laksam and Roshan Thebe have been completely destroyed. The foods and crops in their houses were also destroyed.
Locals informed that elephants have been sighted in the nearby areas continuously for a week. The elephants stay in the Ratuwamai Afforestation Project area during the day and enter the villages during the night. “We have been living in terror for a week and during this period we haven’t had a sound sleep once,” said Dipak Chauhan, a local.
The people also informed that there were around 10 elephants in the group.
“We are bound to run to a safe place with the children when the elephants arrive. I had a narrow escape but my house got destroyed in the recent attack,” said Chandra Thebe.
The local representatives of the area informed that they were taking steps to chase away the elephants from the village.
“We are in talks to find out ways of preventing wild animals like elephants from entering human settlements. We will also provide sirens to the villagers which will help chase the elephants,” said Bhoj Kumari Nepal, deputy mayor of Shivasatakshi Municipality.
Likewise, locals from Ward 2 and 3 of Damak Municipality were also affected by the terror of wild elephants.
Local Dipak Dhungel informed that the elephants waited until the night fell and entered the village to wreak havoc.
“We chased elephants from the maize field to a nearby forest. But still we couldn’t sleep as they could return any time. We are still staying guard 24/7 to check the elephants,” said Dhungel.
The locals in the areas have been facing similar problems annually but nothing effective has been done to prevent elephants from entering the human settlements in search of food.