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`Cornered' elephants create panic

By Our Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN. DEC.23. Residents of villages on the periphery of the proposed Rajaji National Park in Rishikesh area do not venture out of their homes after sunset - reason -a herd of elephants is on the rampage eating or destroying crops, breaking huts or other human structures.

The worst hit is village Dhaur Tali about 15 kilometres from Muni- ki- Reti where the pachyderms have over the past few nights damaged most of the crop and pulled down mud houses of several persons. The victims however managed to escape unhurt. Similarly, a family managed to run to safety as elephants attacked their cottage in Gumaniwala last night.

Incidents of elephants raiding these villages is common as the natural habitat has been badly mauled by humans including some corrupt foresters. Earlier the animals used to move right from the Jamuna in the west, cross the Ganga at Rishikesh and move on to the Corbett National Park area. This natural corridor was blocked over the decades by the construction of the Ganga Power Channel at Chilla and numerous unauthorized settlements in the area. The elephants ` locked' in small pockets now head towards the villages in search of a path to greener pastures and take to destroying huts or crops that come on the way. Although the Rajaji National Park officials have been talking of creating an artificial elephant corridor over the Ganga Power Channel for decades, nothing concrete has been done so far.

"Perhaps, the Chief Minister, Narayan Dutt Tiwari would order the immediate creation of the elephant corridor so that animal and human life and property are saved from being further destroyed", a senior wildlife official said. It may be mentioned that irate farmers have electrocuted over 20 elephants and the elephants have killed nearly an equal number of human beings, mostly women, entering the forests to fetch fuel or fodder over the past two decades.

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`Cornered' elephants create panic

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