People in the border areas of Haluaghat, Mymensingh, are at their wits' end over attacks by wild elephants. Herds are causing extensive damage to houses, crop fields, fruit trees and property, and local people allege they are getting little help from the administration.

The local administration, however, says all kinds of help are being given to local people. It says some homesteads have been built on land illegally, and that it is in those areas that the damage is occurring.

Sources said that at midnight on Sunday, 13 June, a herd of wild elephants rampaged through the house of Mohor Uddin in the border village of Karaitoli, destroying his tin-shed cowshed. The elephants also damaged the boundary wall of a recreational park that has grown up in Karaitoli.

The affected areas are Karaitoli, Dhopajuri, Banai Chiringipara, Konchpara, Rangampara and Gobrakura in Bhubankura union of the upazila. Because there is no barbed-wire fence at the Cherengpara border on the Indian side, herds enter these areas of Bangladesh in search of food and cause heavy damage.

Local people believe 25 to 30 elephants come down together every day from the hills of India's Meghalaya state in search of food, destroying mangoes, jackfruit, bananas and other fruit at people's homes. Elephant movements have also increased in various villages of Bhubankura union, and several hundred women and men in the border area are spending sleepless nights in fear.

Bhubankura union parishad chairman M Suruj Mia said the union parishad had earlier arranged kerosene torches and firecrackers, but these no longer work.

He said some local young men take turns keeping watch at night, but this is far too little. There is also no electricity in these areas. "I have asked several times for solar street lights. If we got them, at least it would not be dark and the elephants would not come into these areas," he said, appealing for help from the administration.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Rezaul Karim said Indian wild elephant herds enter Bangladesh every year, but this year far more have come than before. The herds have been rampaging for the past month.

He said that although elephant attacks are frequent in the border area, there is not much damage because there is no paddy in the fields. However, this year an elephant has destroyed a house. And with no paddy in the fields, the elephants are causing extensive damage to fruit trees and people's property.

Asked what the administration had done, he said kerosene torches and firecrackers had been provided and local young men were keeping regular watch.

Asked about help for those affected, he said there had not been much damage, but anyone who had suffered losses had been asked to apply. The BGB, the Forest Department and the local administration are aware of the matter, and higher authorities have been informed so that the necessary steps can be taken, he said.

Reported by Monjurul Islam.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.