Elephants from India run wild, destroy crops, homes [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Elephants from India run wild, destroy crops, homes

Local February 17, 2017

Daily incursions by elephants from India, destroying crops and houses, for the past two months have made the life of two upazilas in Kurigram miserable.
The authorities have so far failed to take any effective measure to protect people’s life and property from the herd of elephants, believed to be set wild by stone extraction in the Indian hills in Meghalaya.
Local lawmaker Ruhul Amin alleged in parliament on Thursday, ‘BSF opens the gate for herd of elephants to enter Bangladesh. Each night a herd of at least 70 elephants cross the border and destroy crops and houses.’
On a point of order, the Jatiya Party lawmaker demanded immediate compensation for the victims and appropriate measure to stop the intrusion of elephants from neighbouring Inida.
‘People are passing sleepless nights in fear of attack by elephants on their houses and crop lands,’ he said.
Crops, mainly maize, sugarcane and rice, in over 100 acres of land have already been destroyed, nine irrigation pumps uprooted and at least 15 houses damaged by the elephants, according to Roumari forester Iqbal Hossain Khan.
Hundreds of people from 25 villages in two affected upazilas — Roumari and Rajibpur — are passing sleepless nights as they stay awake by making fires and creating sounds to keep the elephants from entering their villages.
Up to 75 elephants have been seen in the herd that crosses into Bangladesh from India after nightfall and feeds on the crop fields until early hours the next day, said Iqbal.
‘The elephants enter the country every night,’ said Iqbal.
The frequency of their visits to the country increased since an elephant, believed to be from the herd, was found dead on the no-man’s-land in the early hours of January 23.
Prior to the incident, the herd entered Bangladesh twice or thrice a week.
‘We have heard that stone extraction in the Indian hills in Meghalaya has badly affected the elephants’ habitat,’ Iqbal explained.
‘They come here to eat. They are hungry and are in search of food,’ he added.
Confirming the incident, Roumari upazila Nirbahi officer Abdullah Al Mamun Talukdar said it was a pressing need to restrict the herd’s movement as it was hampering the life of the people.
‘As the matter of concern it is wildlife, we have asked people not to disturb the elephants,’ said Mamun.
After visiting the area recently, local lawmaker Ruhul Amin told journalists that if the situation did not improve immediately, farmers in the area might not be able to cultivate crops this season.
A local, Rezaul Islam owns over seven acres of land and the rice he cultivated there was destroyed by the elephants.
‘I wonder if I would get any compensation for that,’ said Rezaul.
Roumari police station officer-in-charge Ruhani said he was worried about the safety of the people as the herd might find its way to a neighbourhood any night.