Odisha villagers take MLA on forced march to assess jumbo damage

Annoyed over loss human lives, crops and property due to depredation by elephants over a number of months, offended villagers in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district forced their native legislator stroll across the affected villages to assess the damage.

Forest division officers have been additionally forced to stroll together with Basanti Hembram, MLA of Karanjia constituency in Mayurbhanj.

Residents of Kadamodaka village beneath Karanjia block had blocked National Highway 220 at Tato over destruction attributable to a herd of elephants from neighbouring Jharkhand for the previous 5 months. They have been demanding compensation for the lack of lives and property attributable to the elephants and needed the herd moved away from their village.

As probability would have it, Ms. Hembram’s convoy was passing by way of the world and was stopped by the group of protesters. Spotting the MLA within the automobiles, the villagers made her get off and stroll round seven km to the village, exhibiting her trampled crops and vegetable patches alongside the best way. According to locals, about 10 acres of vegetable crops have been broken by elephants in Tato, Kunjia and Beuria villages. During previous one 12 months, two individuals had misplaced their lives in encounters with elephants.

Denying that she was forced to go to the affected villages, Ms Hembram stated, “I was not evading the people. I had a vehicle and I could have easily sped past the agitating villagers. I stopped to inquire about incident. They informed that they were facing huge problem due to elephant depredation.”

Digant Sohbhan Pal, Assistant Conservator of Forest, stated, “People are obviously angry. They wanted us to walk with them. We have been continuously trying to drive away elephants. We will deploy additional personal to chase off the herd.”