Raipur, April 22 (Inditop) About 2,000 residents were placed under house arrest after a herd of 25 wild elephants created terror in at least 10 villages of Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, an official said Wednesday.
“The 25 wild jumbos have created terror since Monday in 10 villages of Raigarh district’s Gharghora forest division and we are trying to chase them away so that about 2,000 residents can come out of their houses,” local forest official Raman Somawar told IANS by phone.
He said the elephants destroyed crops worth Rs.30,000 at Samaruma village but no human casualty was reported.
“The villagers are following the advice of forest officials. They did not light bonfires nor used any traditional methods that agitate the jumbos,” he said.
Chhattisgarh’s northern region comprising Raigarh, Korba, Jashpur, Koria and Surguja districts has been witnessing repeated attacks by wild elephants for about a decade now. Officials claim human encroachment in the forests is the main reason for rising human-elephant conflicts.
