Elephant herd enters in residential area of Chhattisgarh Korba town

The local administration banned people's movement in parts of Korba town in Chhattisgarh Wednesday after a herd of wild elephants entered a residential area and injured a person. After learning that four elephants had strayed into a plantation near a helipad in Mudapar area, teams of forest officials and police rushed to the spot, said, Collector, Mohammad Qaiser Abdul Haque. The herd had been spotted in a forested area of Dadar Khurd village Tuesday night, he added. The officials were trying to chase away the animals back into the forest, he said.

In the meantime, to avoid anyone getting attacked by the elephants, section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (prohibiting movement) was imposed in Mudapar and surrounding areas, he said. The order will remain effective till the elephants are driven back into the jungle, he added. A man identified as Dilip Vishwakarma was injured when he went near the elephants despite the warning, the collector said, adding that he was shifted to a hospital in Bilaspur.

At least 35 local families have been shifted to a community building for safety said Haque, who visited the area. "We have appealed people not to take a risk by going near the elephants," he said. According to the forest department officials, 14 people have been killed by elephants in Korba district in 2018-19. Northern Chhattisgarh, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Korea districts, is notorious for incidents of human-elephant conflict.