Wild elephants steal Sunsari locals’ sleep

By Baburam Karki,Barahakshetra, Aug. 31: The wild elephants roaming in and around Chatara Punarbas in the northern part of the Charkose Jhadi (forest) in Sunsari district are terrifying the locals. The people cannot sleep fearing the tuskers. 

As many as 30 elephants go downhill from the Charkose Jhadi into the village in the evening, destroying not only the crops and grains of the locals but also causing damage to their homes, said former Ward Chairman of Punarbas in Barahakshetra-2, Harikrishna Bhattarai.

Bhattarai said that he had not slept for a week. His night routine now involves roaming with a flashlight to drive away the elephants. The daily night-time activities of the locals in the Punarbas area have become only chasing the elephants away, he said.

“We have been shouting all night to prevent the 30 elephants from causing any harm in the village. We have to walk around with flashlights in front of each house to drive the elephants away. Many nights, we have been standing at the edge of the jungle and settlement shouting. We have no means to chase away the elephants, and no help comes from anywhere,” said Bhattarai.

Since the second week of July, over 100 households have submitted applications to the Ward No. 2 office of Barahakshetra Municipality seeking compensation for the damage caused to their crops by wildlife from the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, according to Ward Chairman Hom Prasad Gautam.

On the night of August 28, a group of elephants damaged the house of Chandra Bahadur Magar in Punarbas, Barahakshetra-2. The elephants also destroyed 350 kilograms of stored rice by eating and scattering it in Saraswati Pyakurel's house in Hatkhola, Chatara. 

The elephants sometimes threaten lives and at other times cause trouble by eating grains and crops, Gautam said. 

Conversationalist Bimal Timilsina, from the Himalayan Nature organisation, said that as elephants wander from Assam, India, through Bahundangi in Jhapa, searching for food and habitat, they cause damage annually in Tarai districts like Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Udayapur and Saptari.

There is no solar fencing in the areas where elephants are causing trouble, making it easier for the elephants to enter the villages. In recent years, elephants have been troubling villages around Chatara. 

Upon receiving information that elephants have entered the village, the municipal police and security personnel, along with locals, get involved in driving them away. Elephant experts said that elephants cause significant damage when they are wild, a condition in which they become highly aggressive.

When wild animals and roaming elephants cause damage, the rule is to provide compensation only once per season. If crops are damaged, a farmer can receive up to Rs. 10,000. 

The Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve office has informed that if a person is slightly injured by animals, they can receive up to Rs. 20,000, covering half of the medical bill.

If someone is seriously injured, they can receive up to Rs. 200,000. However, if the medical expenses for a person injured by wild animals exceed Rs. 200,000, the additional costs will be covered based on the recommendation of the hospital's physician, according to the Wildlife Damage Relief Distribution Directive 2080. In case of a human death, the provision is to provide 

Rs. 1 million.