Wild elephants in Jamalpur damage houses, crops

A herd of wild elephants damaged at least 20 houses, crops and seedbeds of nearly 100 farmlands at Pathorerchar and Makhonerchar villages in Dewanganj upazila yesterday and the day before.

Locals said about 100 wild elephants from India's Meghalaya State stormed into Pathorerchar village around 6:00pm on Friday and damaged at least 20 houses belonging to eight families.

The elephants also damaged mustard, wheat, sugarcane and seedbeds of 60/70 farmers during their stay at the village till midnight, said Lutfar Rahman, a member of Dangdhora Union Parishad.

At midnight, the herd went to adjacent Makhonerchar village and stayed there till yesterday noon. 

They again damaged several croplands, including a number of seedbeds belonging to 30/40 farmers, said Altaf Uddin, one of the affected farmers.

After frantic efforts for hours villagers finally managed to drove away the animals around 2.00pm.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) ABM Aminul Islam said to solve such longstanding problem all the villages in the area need to bring the under electrification coverage.