About 25,000 people of 15 villages in Nalitabari upazila of the district have had their lives disrupted for over a week as a herd of wild elephants has been damaging their boro paddy fields at nights on a regular basis.
Local people said the herd roams around the villages in search of food every year and descends the plain land at nights from the deep forest of the Garo hills during the harvesting season of boro to eat paddy. During these times, the elephants damage huge quantities of paddy on vast tracks of land.
Meanwhile, the herd has destroyed paddy on about 50-60 acres in Puragaon, Noiyabil and Ramchandrakura unions last one week.
Consequently, the farmers incur a huge amount of losses at the moment of harvesting the paddy.
Nirangan Robi Das, one of the affected farmers of Nakugaon village, said the herd ate and damaged paddy on about 20 acres of the village.
As a result, the local farmers were guarding their farmlands at nights by lighting torches. On the other hand, huge quantity of diesel is needed to light up these torches, the cost of which to bear is almost impossible by the impoverished farmers.
A Nakugaon residence named Rustam Ali said the ambushes could have been prevented if light could be produced by generator.
Sources at the upazila said a herd of 20-25 wild elephants took position in the Garo pahar about 15 years ago, being detached from a big herd in the Peack pahar of India. Meanwhile, the number of those reached at about 60.
Later, the herd could not return back due to the wire fence erected by the BSF, Indian border security force.
Aminul Islam, an official of Madhutila forest range, said such type of elephant attacks occur every year and they try to ward off the herd with the help of locals by lighting torches and creating huge sound with loudspeakers.
He continued:“They have not appealed to the higher authorities concerned for a permanent solution in this regard.”
Nalitabari upazila chairman AKM Mukhlesur Rahman Ripon said the hilly people were suffering the most from these attacks. ”Even I myself with village people chased away the herd on Friday night.”
