A herd of wild elephants has wreaked havoc in the last two days in and around the Budlapara tea estate area of Udalguri district of Assam.
The herd of elephants has destroyed tea plants in the nursery of the garden and damaged a creche house inside the garden in the wee hours on Sunday.
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According to reports, a herd of 15-20 elephants consisting 4-5 calves descended down from the Indo-Bhutan hills.
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It is believed that the herd, that has come from Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary, located at 2-3 km, has caused substantial damage to the tea garden owned by Apeejay Tea Limited.
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“The herd is moving in the area for the past two days and it has severely damaged the creche and the water pipeline connecting the labour residential areas,” said an official of Budlapara tea estate requesting anonymity.
“We are trying to contact the officials of Bornadi wildlife sanctuary. But either they don’t respond or they are not reachable. As first-hand measures, we are trying to keep the herd away from the residential areas by bursting crackers,” the official added.
“There were nearly 15-20 elephants in the herd, including 4-5 calves. The herd has tried to cross over to the labour lines but returned after we chased it away by bursting firecrackers,” said Budhu Toppo and Jattoo Kachua, who look after protective fencing of the garden.
Despite repeated attempts, the forest officials of Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary couldn’t be reached for comments.