Elephant herd damages crops in Garhwa

Garhwa: Forest officials on Monday inspected the damages caused by a herd of around 20 elephants in Pachperi village under Dhurki block. The herd entered the village on Sunday night and destroyed paddy and other crops, spread across several acres, and damaged a water pipeline meant for irrigation.Claiming that the herd has been raiding the village for over a week now, the residents said, “We have informed to the forest department time and again about the alarming situation. But nothing was to keep the elephants at bay.” Inder Deo Singh, a farmer said, “Our paddy sown in one acre land has been completely destroyed by the elephants”. Another local, identified as Narayan Singh, said the pachyderms destroyed his standing paddy crop across two acres.Pramod Kumar Yadav, forester of north forest division, visited the village and assessed the losses.“The damages of farmers crops caused by elephants are being assessed. The compensation of the damages will be paid accordingly after the assessment completed”. DFO Garhwa (north division) Anshuman said, “Compensation will be provided to all those who lost their crops.”