Herd of 19 elephants reached Baridari forest, panic

Crowd of villagers gathered to see the elephants throughout the day, Mahuatand. A herd of 19 elephants was seen on Thursday morning in the forest near Chagdi turn of Baridari in the area. A large number of villagers gathered to see the herd of elephants camping in the forest just along the Mahuatand-Baridari main road. This scene continued throughout the day. Due to this the elephants were seen in a slightly uncomfortable position. Forest department personnel were keeping an eye on the herd of elephants. The police of Mahuatand police station also reached and gave instructions to the villagers, but the villagers were not going to obey. According to the information, elephants were active in Kusumdih area for the last two-three days. On Wednesday night, the forest department personnel had driven the herd from Kusumdih towards Gola, but after midnight the elephants were again sent from the other end towards Kusumdih. After this, the elephants reached the forest near the slope in front of Chagdi turn via Badkipunnu, Gangpur and then Dharampur. During this stir, elephants have also partially damaged the crops and boundary walls of some villagers in Mahuatand, Gangpur. There is panic among the villagers when a herd of elephants comes into the populated area. Chairman of Forest Protection Committee, Badkipunnu, Vijay Kumar Gupta said that the elephants will become active again after the evening, but the forest department is emphasizing on keeping the elephants away from the population.