Wild elephants continue to wreck houses, damage crops in Jhapa

By Bishnu Prasad Pokhrel,Damak, July 10: The wild elephants, which enter Nepal from India, have been causing damage to crops and houses in Jhapa.   

On Saturday night, a herd of wild elephants caused damage to a house and a school in Birtamod Municipality-7. 

The animals also destroyed the standing crops of the farmers. 

According to the locals, a herd of five wild elephants caused the damage.  

The animals demolished a house of local Durga Rai and destroyed the ripe maize of local Ramesh Shrestha. The same herd of animals demolished a wall of the canteen of Kanchan English School.  

Dilli Ram Chaulagai, a teacher of the school, said that the elephant destroyed a part of the school canteen. 

He said that the elephants that entered the human settlements at midnight left the locals in panic.  

Chaulagai further said that the elephants caused damage to standing maize crops and banana and other fruit trees of the farmers.

Moreover, the elephants destroyed paddy seedlings of many farmers.

The elephants walked on the seedlings, making them unplantable, said the farmers.

This month alone, the elephants killed two persons and destroyed crops worth millions of rupees in Jhapa. 

The Division Forest Office, Jhapa, said that most of the elephants enter human settlements in the morning.

Chief of Division Forest Office Megh Raj Rai said that while studying the loss caused by the elephants and the time of their arrival, it was found that they mostly caused damage to life and crops in the morning.

Most of the local levels in Jhapa are affected by the wild elephants, with Ward No 4 of  Mechinagar Municipality suffering the most. 

It has caused a lot of damage to the crops grown by the farmers, said ward chair Arjun Karki.

Elephants enter Jhapa through Bahundangi border. 

After suffering a lot, the locals have been trying to win the heart of the elephants by behaving in a friendly manner, no matter how much pain the elephants have caused to them.

Karki said that if elephants were not teased, they might not come to the settlements and cause damage.

He said that the elephants arrive in Jhapa from India in search of food.