(IN): Dolma elephant herd may face threat in Midnapore

September 27, 2008

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*Dolma elephant herd may face threat in Midnapore*

MIDNAPORE, Sept. 25: If the defence ministry gives its clearance to the

Silda contractor, Mr Chandan Haldar, for undertaking blasting operations, it

would allow him to extract black stone from government land at Bakra in

Belpahari block of Midnapore West. This in turn would disturb the wild

elephant herd that regularly visit the area from Dolma in Jharkhand, locals

fear. The herd has been coming to this zone since the past two decades.

Locals said over 100 pachyderms come into the district in search of food in

August-September every year and return to their habitat in March-April after

the harvesting season, through the same route.

During their long stay the herd used to deliver their calves in the secluded

Dumurkonda forest under the Ethela Forest Beat, hence, the locals have

fondly named the forest tract, 'Hatibari' (elephant abode).

Prior experience shows that the herd being disturbed after the blasting

undertaken by the RDS, Durgapur and the Hindusthan Construction Company

Limited in Belpahari-Binpur fields between 2002 and 2006 had been destroying

habitats, crops worth lakhs of rupees besides killing 10 to 12 people every

year, villagers said.

Exasperated by the elephant menace, villagers killed two intruding members

of the herd in Garbeta area by electrically charging the fences in 2005 and

two other animals were food poisoned with insecticides in Lalgar area of the

district in 2006, it was learnt.

Hence, if the contractor is given permission for conducting the blasting

operations, the pachyderms would go wild and wreak havoc, the villagers

feared. nsns

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United against elephant polo

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