Bhubaneswar, July 9: Elephants are barging into areas of human habitation in the interior forest of Sundargarh district in search of seasonal fruits such as mangoes and jackfruits.

"It is scary that almost everyday elephants are coming closer to our village," said Albino Toppo of Delakudar village near Chandiposh, about 35km from Rourkela.

Residents of K. Balang, Lahunipara and Nuagaon are also making similar complaints. "This summer, we had bumper yield of mangoes, jackfruits and other seasonal fruits, which are attracting these animals to the areas of human settlement," said a villager of K. Balang.

Besides, the seed of mahua tree attracts jumbos. "They also love the local brew handia," said Suluri Sahu of Totapalli under Lahunipara.

In the past couple of weeks, elephants have barged into the villages and ransacked houses and destroyed property. On Monday, elephants destroyed two houses at Delakudar and five to six houses at Lahunipara and K. Balang. Last month, the jumbos killed a baby girl at Chandiposh.

In the past week, the jumbos destroyed houses and property in Sabdega and Lefripara to savour seasonal fruits from these areas. "We are keeping a watch during the night with the help of the forest officials and we are trying to drive these animals back into the forest," said Pramod Kissan.

Rourkela divisional forest officer Sanjeet Kumar said: "We are keeping an eye on the movement of the herds but we cannot do much as majority of the villagers are residing in the interior areas of the forest." Kumar said they had sought help from the local revenue officials to assess the magnitude of the damages. "We will pay cash compensation to the people according to the departmental norms," he said.