Paddy under jumbo attack in Sivasagar

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SIVASAGAR: The paddy fields of Desangmukh are nearly ready for harvest. Farmers now have to contend with elephants on the rampage. The standing paddy crops in the fields are getting razed to the ground by herds of wild tuskers.

Elaborating on the elephant menace, locals of the villages said, “Around 100 tuskers destroyed crops in Majorbari, Ligiribari and Boloma village under Sivasagar regional forest division on Friday and Saturday night.” With each passing year, the number of marauding elephants in these rice-growing areas has increased, leaving behind a trail of destruction, said the locals.

Forest department officials, after getting information from the villagers, have taken steps to drive away the invading jumbos. “We can’t stop jumbos from migrating, but we must protect crops and save lives. So we set up vigil teams at strategic points,” said Mobid Ali, Forester-1. Ali told The Sentinel that nearly 100 wild elephants from Panidehing entered the area on Friday night.

“Elephants destroyed paddy at Majorbari, Ligiribari and Boloma villages, but no casualty has been reported so far,” he said.