BHUBANESWAR: A herd of elephants has strayed into Khurda town and spread a panic like situation among the people in the area. The jumbos were spotted by the local residents near Khurda district headquarters hospital late on Saturday evening.
The elephant herd reportedly crossed National Highway 57 and strayed into the town area of Khurda. A team of forest department officials of the concerned division has been engaged in driving off the jumbo heard back to the jungle, sources said.
The elephants though have not caused any damage to the lives or properties in the area. “It was terrifying to see the elephants on the road. There are about two or three of them. We informed the local police immediately about the situation,” Partha Sarathi Rath, a local resident said.
This is not the first time that such an elephant herd had strayed into a populous area of Khurda or the state capital of Bhubaneswar itself in the recent past. In June this year, a herd of three jumbos strayed into a habitation area of the city and triggered panic among the locals.
The jumbos were then spotted near Sikharchandi area here. The forest department officials took more than two hours to drive the herd back to the forest. In March too, jumbos wreaked havoc in the Salia Sahi area here and the forest officials took 16 hours to drive them back.
In March too, the forest department had to deal with a tense situation as the elephant herd stayed confined to the hillock till late evening. In November last year, an elephant had strayed into the city and continued to roam in several areas including the densely populated Old Town.
In other parts of the state too, the man and elephant conflict surfaced on Saturday. In the Loknathpur area of Keonjhar, a man got injured when a herd of 13 elephants strayed inside the village. The incident took place when the local villagers tried to ward off the elephants.
