Baripada, Aug. 4: An elephant killed a 45-year-old woman at Thakurmunda here as around 50 elephants wreaked havoc at several areas in Mayurbhanj for about a week.

Herds of jumbos have caused massive damage to paddy fields, houses and barns at Rururan, Jashipur, Thakurmunda and Karanjia. Around 30 houses were damaged in the attack. A forest official said the elephants had sneaked into the Karanjia forest from the Jharkhand end. Forest personnel from six ranges have been pressed into action after the jumbo attack.

On Sunday, a herd of elephants had damaged 12 houses of Angarpada and Benua village. The victims, however, are annoyed with the compensation of Rs 2,000 for partial damages and Rs 10,000 for complete destruction of a house.

M. S. Nanda, a wildlife activist of Jashipur, said: "The compensation given on account of damage is meagre. The Karanjia residents suffer a lot from such frequent elephant attacks."

Karanjia forest officer Asish Behera said: "Once we chase the elephants out of an area, they flee either to Keonjhar or Jharkhand and come back after a day or two. Containing the menace is a colossal task."

Local residents alleged that they were bearing the brunt as the forest department hardly did anything to handle the situation.