Guwahati, Aug 4: A wild elephant damaged a fair price shop and crops at Dhekipota area in Assam’s Goreswar on Saturday night.
Grindra Medhi, owner of the fair price shop in the area, said the elephant damaged his shop after coming out from the jungle on India-Bhutan border.
“A wall was damaged after the wild elephant attacked the shop. The elephant got smell of rice and they came to eat rice. If the local people had not driven the elephant away, then my whole shop would have been damaged,” said Grindra Medhi.
Another villager said, “We heard elephant movements towards our village. But one of the elephant from the herd entered our village area and damaged a fair price shop and cropland. When we came out of our houses, we witnessed a big wild elephant standing infront of our house. Torch light were used to drive the elephant from our village.”
He said, “Elephant depredation has been rising in Goreswar area in the last few years and many people have lost their lives in man-elephant conflict.”
The locals have appealed to the forest department to find a solution to the human-elephant conflict in the state as they feel forest officials are “ignoring the matter”.
The human-animal conflict has been rising tremendously in Assam and its neighbouring states due to shrinking forest covers. Assam’s Udalguri district is one of the top human-elephant conflict zones in Assam.
According to official records, in 2019, 75 people were killed in by elephants in Assam, 91 people in 2020, 63 people in 2021, 80 people in 2022, and 74 people in 2023.
Apart from civilians, many forest officials have also lost their lives in elephant attacks. In April this year, four people, including two forest officials, were trampled to death by a wild elephant in Sonitpur district.
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