Villagers sleep on rooftops, form watch groups as tusker terror grips Jharkhand district
Villagers sleep on rooftops, form watch groups as tusker terror grips Jharkhand district
Chaibasa, Residents of several villages in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district are sleeping on rooftops, crowding into concrete houses and forming night watch groups to escape a marauding tusker, which has claimed 20 lives so far.
Among the worst affected is 13-year-old Jaipal Singh Meral of Barbaria village, the sole survivor of an elephant attack that wiped out almost his entire family earlier this month. Traumatised by the tragedy, the Class-VII student has stopped eating, speaking or going to school, villagers said.
Jaipal lost his father Sanatan Meral, mother Joloko Kui, younger sister Damyanti and younger brother Mungdu on the night of January 6, when the elephant trampled them to death. His younger sister Sushila sustained a leg fracture and is undergoing treatment at Noamundi hospital.
“He has gone silent. We have to force him to eat. He witnessed the entire incident,” said his maternal uncle Tupra Laguri, with whom the boy is now staying in Barbaria village under Noamundi block.
As forest officials continue their search for the elusive adult tusker, panic has spread across villages bordering Odisha. Residents say they have abandoned their thatched huts at night, fearing sudden attacks.
In Benisagar village under Majhgaon block, Kharpos panchayat ‘mukhiya’ Pratap Chandra Chattar was seen counselling villagers on safety measures.
“We are being told by ‘forest mitras’ that the elephant is moving between Benisagar and forests in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district. It can enter the village any time,” Chattar told PTI.
With only three concrete houses in the entire panchayat, villagers crowd into them after sunset.
“People spread hay on rooftops and sleep under tarpaulin sheets. No one feels safe sleeping on the ground,” he said, adding that forest officials have warned that the elephant directly targets human dwellings.
It was in Benisagar that the tusker trampled to death its latest victim, JCB driver Prakash Das, on January 9 – the 20th fatality attributed to the animal, the highest toll caused by a single elephant in Jharkhand so far, officials said.
Similar scenes can be witnessed in neighbouring areas. Vivek Purty, ‘mukhiya’ of Ghorabandha panchayat, said villagers there too are spending sleepless nights.
“People are terrified. Many are sleeping on rooftops of concrete houses to avoid attacks,” he said.
In Barbaria panchayat, where five people were killed, villagers have taken matters into their own hands. Rup Singh Laguri, brother of the local ‘mukhiya’, said night watch groups have been formed.
“Nearly 25 youths are guarding the village with torches, crackers and ‘tute’ . If the elephant is sighted, they alert everyone and try to drive it away,” he said.
Forest officials, however, admit that the animal has not been sighted since January 9.
Regional Chief Conservator of Forests Smitha Pankaj said joint teams from Jharkhand and Odisha forest departments are making all efforts to trace it.
“It is possible the elephant’s ‘musth’ period has subsided, which may explain the absence of fresh casualties,” she said.
Chaibasa Divisional Forest Officer Aditya Narayan said authorities remain unsure of the tusker’s whereabouts.
“We are in constant touch with Odisha officials. There has been no casualty on either side after January 9, but we can only confirm its status once it is tracked,” he said.
Forest constable Jaishree Sumbrui of Kotgarh in Noamundi said even thermal drones have failed to locate the animal so far.
According to former State Wildlife Board member D S Srivastava, rising human-elephant conflict is linked to habitat loss.
“Mining, development work and destruction of forest corridors have pushed elephants into human settlements. Food scarcity, especially of bamboo, forces them to raid fields and villages,” he said.
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