File picture of elephants at a paddy field in western Odisha

Sambalpur, Oct. 29: A herd of elephants has ruined standing crop on large tracts of land in Ambabhona block of Bargarh district.

The elephants strayed into the villages late on Saturday night. By the time the villagers spotted them early yesterday, they had already damaged a large tract of crop.

A forest official said: “There are about 18 elephants in the herd. They had strayed out of their habitat in search of food. Efforts are under way to chase them out. The elephants are now at Joypur in Bhatli block of Bargarh district.”

Now, the villagers have demanded compensation for the loss. “The elephants have ruined my crop of 50 decimal. The government should compensate the loss,” said a villager.

Divisional forest officer of Bargarh Rajat Lenka said: “We are yet to assess the loss. The revenue inspector will visit the area for assessment, after which the farmers will be compensated at the rate of Rs 10,000 per acre.”

“The elephants had strayed out of the Debrigarh wild life sanctuary. The first priority now is to send the elephants back to the Debrigarh forest. The elephants are at Bhatli block now. The forests officials are on the spot. The elephants’ movement to the forest will start in the evening,” Lenka said.Earlier, the elephants damaged crops at Baddhara, Salepali, Ganpara, Bhukta, Pichholi of Ambabhona block.

A similar incident had taken place at Kulhimal panchayat in Jharsuguda district a few days ago. The rampaging elephants had destroyed large tracts of standing crop there.