WB seeks permission from Centre to catch elephants causing crop loss

In a bid to control the damage the crop loss caused by the herds of Dalma elephants, Bengal forest Minister Hiten Barman has written a letter to the Central Ministry of Environment and Forests, seeking permission to catch the elephants.

Herds of Dalma-elephants come down to Bankura and West Midnapur districts in search of food generally around September and early October. And in the process the elephants have been ruining the crops like potato, mustard, radish, cabbage and cauliflower.

Earlier the farmers of Dhadika West Midnapore demonstrated at the nearby forest department office demanding compensation for the crop loss. They also alleged that despite of their several requests the forest department remained unmoved.

Receiving such complains persistently, the state Forest Department have decided to arrest some of the elephants as early as possible. “But without having approval from the central ministry we can do nothing. We have written a letter to the concerned authority in this regard,” Barman confirmed this on Sunday evening.

Sources from forest department revealed that there are at least 142 elephants still roaming in Bankura district only. Among these, 25 are resident-elephants. Minister said that if approval comes from Delhi, these resident-elephants would soon be captured and sent to the deep forests of North Bengal.

And regarding the compensation to the farmers, minister promised that all the dues would be cleared before March end.