West Bengal: Elephants damage houses in Burdwan, officials hold meet

BURDWAN: Pressure mounted on forest officials in East Burdwan to drive away a herd of elephants, that had strayed into Ausgram four days ago, from farmlands adjacent to villages.
The animals reportedly damaged two houses at Pratappur under Ausgram (II) early on Monday and are also posing a threat to crops. Forest officials said the elephants were close to attacking when attempts were made to drive them away.
Forest and district administration officials held a meeting on Monday to determine how to send them back to the forest. The meet, held at short-notice, was attended by Gopal Banerjee, BDO Ausgram (II); Nisha Goshwami, DFO East Burdwan; Syed Haider Ali, pradhan, panchayat samiti; Abhedananda Thander, MLA; Syamaprasad Lohar, East Burdwan zilla parishad karmadhyaksha, forest officials, cops and farmers.
The BDO told TOI: “Forty-nine elephants are still roaming in separate groups in Pratappur jungle. They are reluctant to leave their calves and are getting sufficient food and water. Forest officials are seeking help from farmers and villagers and urging them not to disturb the elephants, get in their path or burst crackers. Otherwise, the animals may retaliate and the situation will go out of control.”
“Since the members of hulla parties, who came from Bankura, don’t know about this corridor, they failed to drive away the herd. The forest officials regrouped the elephants on Monday and will start driving them away from Tuesday during daytime. The officials will choose a route on the corridor that the elephants can take after a 2-3km walk,” the BDO added.
Another issue discussed at the meeting was compensation to farmers whose crops had been damaged.