A herd of 13 elephants is moving across Albert Ekka block in Chainpur and Kurumgarh region while one more herd is marching in the district’s Basia and Sisai block areas.
Another elephant which got separated from the herd in Chhattisgarh, had entered the bordering block of Raidih district four days ago, after crossing the Sankh.
First, it demolished two houses at Keradih village four days ago and reached Loro village, said Gumla divisional forest officer Ajit Kumar Singh. It ate up paddy and damaged the house of Budhwa Oraon at Loro and then reached Murumsokra village on the fourth day.
The tusker demolished houses of Mangra Oraon, Dahru Oraon and Indira Oraon at Murumsokra village, only 9 km off the town and in Toto village houses of Nakul Sahu and Zaheer Ma were damaged by it. The elephant is reported to be stationed at the forest village of Anjan in Gumla block on Tuesday.
A separate group of 13 elephants has been in the district for the last few days after it crossed over from Chhattisgarh and came to Kurumgarh area, Singh said.
This is the season of farming activities and villagers prepare both hadia and mahua liquor which attracts the elephants who later create havoc, said the DFO.
Compensation will be given to the affected families after the assessment of loss report comes up, he said.