From the death of a man to damage of crops to the rampaging of homes, there seems to be no end to the menace brought by elephants in Sarpang. These days, elephants have started visiting villages in Samtenling Gewog almost every night putting residents in fear. Most recently, alone elephant damaged a part of a family home at Samtenthang on Tuesday.
The elephant attacked the storehouse stocked with grains and brought down one of its walls. Villagers said this is the fourth time this year the same house has been attacked by elephants.
“The elephant came running towards my house, and when I tried to escape carrying my child in my arms, it hit the store and left with a sack of grains a few metres away from here. But then it refused to leave the village despite the people here detonating explosives to scare it off. It left only in the early hours of the morning,” said Tila Rupa Koirala, a resident.
Elsewhere, in Chhoekhorling village of Dekiling Gewog, herds of elephants also destroyed around half an acre of paddy last week.
“That night my phone got switched off and I did not notice the elephants attacking the crops. I became aware only when people began shouting to chase it away. It has damaged almost all of my crops starting last year,” said Barti Maya Ghalley, a resident.
Local leaders say that elephants’ herd size and frequency of visits in the communities have increased over the years. They said this year, the elephants started invading villages on almost daily basis or at least once every two to three days. Farmers observed that elephants no longer get scared when they chase them or even when crackers explode. They say it is high time for agencies concerned to come up with solutions before more lives are lost to the tuskers. In August this year, a 33-year-old man was killed in an elephant attack in Samtenling Gewog.
“We have been trying different methods to ward off elephants but there is only so much we can do. We have informed about our problems to the government. We were told by officials that a crop insurance scheme would be started but the scheme has yet to start,” said Lekey Gyeltshen, Dekiling Mangmi.
“We have informed the fellow villagers to remain alert. We also have a Quick Response Team headed by our Gup. We are actively patrolling the areas and the forestry office has even provided us with explosives to help us scare away the elephants. However, occasionally they enter the village in the wee hours when everyone is asleep and cause damage,” said Lalit Badhur Ghalley, Samtenling Tshogpa.
Foresters of the Gelephu Range Office said they have no other alternative than to help chase the elephants away. The office said their officials are stationed in office every night on a rotational basis to attend to calls from people asking for assistance to drive the elephants away.
Karma Wangdi, Sarpang
Edited by Kipchu
