KHARAGPUR: A herd of 80 Dalma elephants that encountered trenches along the Bengal-Odisha border near West Midnapore’s Nayagram, finally crossed over to the neighbouring state on Wednesday night after the trenches were filled with soil.
The herd, including 15 calves, crossed over from the Balimundi forest in Nayagram’s Keshorekha range to Odisha’s Pathrashole forest.
In their report submitted to Anjan Guha, DFO of Kharagpur, foresters of the Keshorekha range said the herd had destroyed crops on some 50 bighas across areas like Chandabila and Keshorekha where the elephants were stranded since October 28. Guha said, “We spoke to the Odisha officials and requested them to honour the recent agreement between four states — Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh — and allow free passage to the elephants.”
The Odisha government paid heed to the Bengal forest department’s appeal and filled the trenches dug along the border on Tuesday night.