Elephant terror in the forests of Jharkhand. file photo
Jagran correspondent, Chakradharpur. 17 people have lost their lives in 6 days due to elephant attack in West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. After which a big question has arisen on the safety of people from elephants.
जंगल की अवैध कटाई के कारण ग्रामीण क्षेत्रों में हाथियों का आतंक निरंतर बढ़ रहा है। Due to illegal felling of forests, the safe habitats of elephants have been destroyed. There is a shortage of food. राज्य सरकार का 'एलिफेंट प्रोजेक्ट' फ्लॉप शो बनकर रह गया है।
The forests of Saranda, Podahat and Kolhan, the refuge of elephants, are getting destroyed day by day. These days, due to destruction of dense forests, there is terror of wild elephants in Goilkera block, Tonto block and other areas. Due to fear of elephants, people hide in their homes in the evening.
All roads seem like an undeclared curfew. People have stopped walking. The villagers have been trying to drive away the elephants by playing musical instruments, firecrackers and burning torches, but the villagers are not successful. Often a herd of elephants is destroying the crops in some village by eating ripe paddy and trampling it with their feet.
'Elephant Project' was prepared by the government to stop elephant terror and provide protection to elephants in the forest. Under the project, many schemes were made to provide safe place to elephants in the forest, to collect water in the forest hills, to provide food for elephants etc.
Even after years, these schemes have remained limited to files only. There is a provision for payment of compensation in case crops are destroyed by elephants. But due to the negligence of the forest department and the lengthy process, farmers remain deprived of compensation.
Villagers allege that even after giving information about crop damage to the Forest Department, the officials of the department do not come to inspect. Complaint is not acted upon.
Complaint is not acted upon
Villagers said that when they complain about elephant terror, the officials of the department say that "elephant is a wild animal, it cannot be kept tied like a cow or a bull." In order to drive away the elephants, every year a large number of people are losing their lives in every area, due to which now people are unable to muster the courage to leave their homes even to drive away the elephants.
The forest department is unable to provide protection to the forest. Before the eighties, people were afraid to even bring a leaf from the forest. Under the leadership of martyr Devendra Majhi, illegal felling of forests started in the name of gaining control over water and forest land, which continues even today.
The timber mafia colludes and sells precious wood worth lakhs of rupees every day to neighboring states. Many times people in khaki uniforms were also caught in wood smuggling, but smuggling continues unabated.
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