AGARTALA: Hundreds of villagers from the foothills of Atharamura range on Thursday blocked NH-8 in the Chakmaghat area of Teliamura in Khowai district demanding protection from a rampaging herd of wild elephants.
They alleged that forest and wildlife officials have not been doing enough to protect the agricultural fields and properties of the villagers from the wild elephants. The villagers, mostly women, assembled in front of the sub divisional magistrate's office in the morning and raised slogans demanding administrative action to prevent the entry of wild elephants into human habitations and adequate compensation to the villagers who have suffered losses. After assurance from the administration to consider their demands, the villagers withdrew the blockade in the afternoon.
Sources said villages in the foothills of Atharamura and Baramura ranges have been suffering heavy losses because of the rampaging herds destroying their crops and properties. On Wednesday night, a herd of elelphants raided the localities under Kalyanpur police station and damaged at last eight houses and a huge amount of vegetables and paddy.
Wildlife officials here argued that because of unwanted human activities in the deep forest of both the ranges, the elephants' natural habitats have been destroyed. "We are drawing up some plans to restrict the elephants in the specific forest corridors and deploy trained elephants to drive away the wild herds when they invade human habitations," said a senior wildlife official here.
