Jalpaiguri: Elephants are entering the area. It is practically rampant in the entire area. But where is the forest department? Allegations of ration corruption left the department without a guardian after the Forest Minister went into ED custody. Complaints are raised on the occasion of lax surveillance of the forest workers.
The place of occurrence is Jalpaiguri. Residents complain that elephant groups are coming to the locality almost every evening. Destroying crops. Attacking inside the house. As soon as the sun sets, common people have to stay indoors for fear of tooth decay.
On the other hand, if you call the staff of the forest department, they do not pick up the phone. Not only that, in many cases the villagers complain that they don’t want to come even after getting the news about the elephants coming out. As a result, the villagers have to chase the elephants at the risk of their lives. This time, electricity is being connected to the farming fields to prevent elephants from entering, resulting in the death of elephants as well.
When we tried to contact the District Forest Officer in this regard, he did not give any reply. As a result of the question of the local residents, is the forest minister going to the ED office, the loose surveillance of the forest department? In this regard, the Gram Panchayat Pradhan said, “The government is not making any arrangements for feeding the elephants. The previous government used to provide food for elephants. They were given food in different forests. But now none of that happens.”