BARAMA, Oct 12 - As their forest habitats shrink and villages edge closer, it is not uncommon for wild elephants at Nagrijili area in Baksa district to destroy crops and homes and sometimes even kill people.
�The wild elephants have destroyed several houses besides damaging crops in the area in the last six months,� local residents said.
Villages like Guabari, Mahendra Nagar, Bimala Nagar, Bagarikhuti, Kumbhijar, Jaypur, Latibari, Bhalukmari, Dhekipota, Khatrabari, Ghilajhar, Ganeshpur and Bhaoraguri, are the worst affected.
A couple of days ago, a herd of wild elephants had entered a residential area at Jaypur village in Nagriguli completely destroying two houses belonging to one Swapan Biswas and Manda Das and damaging crops. The elephants later left the place of their own accord.
A forest official said that the attacks by wild elephants in the northern belt of Udalguri and Baksa districts along the Bhutan foothills area have been increasing gradually. Herds of wild elephants usually stray into villages in search of food and shelter, and in this process, they destroy houses, damage crops and even crush people to death, he further said.
A wildlife activist said that the elephant population was rising in various areas in the State where the conflict between man and elephant has reached an alarming proportion.
