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Elephant terror in Chandrapur: Residents stay awake all night waiting for a lasting solution

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२०८१ माघ १५, मंगलवार १७:०७
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Chandrapur. Farmers in Rautahat are suffering due to the devastation of wild elephants. Since last Ashar, wild elephants have been living in villages near the forests of Chandrapur, Brindavan, Gujara and Fatuwa Bijaypur municipalities in Rautahat.

More than 2 dozen houses have been destroyed in Rautahat due to elephants, and grains, vegetables and fruits worth lakhs of rupees have been destroyed. A woman has lost her life and another has been injured in an elephant attack in Rautahat.

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70-year-old Patalimaya Tamang, a resident of Ragibutuwa, Fatuwa Bijaypur-11, died in an elephant attack on Kartik 16. Tamang’s house was completely damaged by an elephant. When the wild elephant suddenly attacked the house, her husband managed to escape and save his life.

Elephants have destroyed more than a dozen houses in Chandrapur-2 Judibela alone since last October. ‘They destroyed the house so that it was uninhabitable, but we managed to escape and survive,’ said local Khik Prasad Pant. Rajendra Thakur’s house of Pulamitol was also completely damaged by the elephant attack. Thakur said that the elephant destroyed the house while he was sleeping at night. Tarjan Magar’s house of Balampakhi Tole was also completely destroyed by the elephant.

Similarly, elephants destroyed seven houses in Chandrapur-3, Gaindatar, in one night. Elephants have destroyed more than a dozen houses in Rautahat. Local Ajay Timalsina informed that four houses were destroyed in Bhaisahi and Butwa settlements of Fatuwa Bijaypur Municipality-11.

Every year, elephants used to come during the rice harvest and leave after the rice is harvested, but this time, the people here are feeling unsafe because they are staying in the village. After the elephants destroyed the houses, Chandrapur Municipality Mayor Sanjay Kumar Kafle reached the victims’ homes and provided food along with zinc sheets.

Wild elephants have caused a lot of damage, especially to banana plantations. They have damaged banana plantations planted in Chandrapur-3, Gaindatar and Judibela in Rautahat. Lal Bahadur Dong, a farmer from Chandrapur-3, Gaindatar, informed that elephants have repeatedly destroyed a banana plantation planted in about one bigha.

He complains that elephants have destroyed about seven hundred banana plants that were in the fruiting season. He says that the lack of insurance in the banana plantation is also a problem. Local Surendra Patel has informed that elephants are also wreaking havoc every night in Balrikhor, Vrindavan Municipality-1. Patel says that for the past few days, the villagers have been forced to stay awake all night due to elephants.

The following decisions have been taken: arranging lights at poles and fire at intersections in elephant-affected areas, regular patrols for elephant control and provision of fuel for patrols, collecting details of the damage caused by elephants, arranging relief for damaged houses and farmers, and purchasing an ambulance for immediate rescue of the injured, informed Hemant Kumar Sah, Chief of the Division Forest Office, Rautahat.

Federal MP Dev Prasad Timalsina and Provincial Assembly member Yubaraj Bhattarai have expressed their commitment to take necessary initiatives at the federal and provincial levels for elephant management. .

They have assured the government of reliable assistance in relief and rescue for the farmers and local residents of the affected areas. Every year, groups of elephants enter villages such as Gaindatar, Judibela, Paurai, Chandranigahpur in Rautahat, Chocha, Maira, Jangalsahiya in Gujarko, Balari in Vrindavan, Ragi Butuwa in Fatuwa and Bijaipur Municipality, among others.

Last year alone, two women in Chandrapur who went to collect grass and firewood lost their lives due to an elephant attack. Due to the elephant menace, the locals have even stopped going to the forest to collect firewood.

Meanwhile, in the southern part of Rautahat, nilgai and wild boars have damaged farmers’ crops. For the past few years, nilgai have been damaging crops such as maize, paddy, sugarcane, potatoes, wheat, bananas, coriander and other crops planted in the riverbank fields of farmers in Kataharia, Debahi, Lalbakaiya, Vijaypur, and Maulapur of the district.

A large number of nilgai and wild boars live hidden in the kharghari and sugarcane fields on both banks of the Lalbakaiya River. They come out during the day and graze on the crops. Locals have started building scaffolding near fields and rivers to protect their crops from wild animals. Farmers complain that their crops are at risk as no one is interested in controlling wild animals.

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