DIMAPUR, APRIL 4 (MExN): A herd of wild elephants wreaked havoc at Tzuring Yinten at Waromung village during the past week causing huge losses to properties and posing threat to the people in the area.
A press note from the Waromung Village Council (WMC) pointed out that Tzuring Yinten is a lush plain area which has huge economic potentials under Waromung village jurisdiction under Jangpetkong range, some 60 kilometers away from Mokokchung town. The Tzuring Yinten has been proposed by the Waromung Senso Mungdang to be developed into a model village; the proposal had already been submitted to the state government and necessary developmental works for establishing the new village are being undertaken on a fast pace by the Waromung village citizens.
The Tzuring Yinten, which is surrounded by paddy fields and private plantations, has been plagued by wild elephants even in the past years that arrive in the valley to attack the paddy fields.
However, the latest attack by wild elephants numbering around ten matured beasts was the most severe in recent times, the WMC informed. The elephants destroyed the paddy fields and also the newly constructed residential and farm houses at the proposed Tzuring Yinten proposed village.
The cost of the damages is yet to be assessed by the Village Council or any government agencies; however the cost of damages is expected to run into several lakhs of rupees, as the elephants not only attacked the newly constructed houses, the paddy fields but also randomly destroyed the plantation fields.
In this regard, the WMC appealed to the state government to take cognizance of the wild elephants’ menace at Waromung village which is causing huge economic losses and creating a fear among the cultivators.
The WMC reminded that in the past years, the wild elephants had caused destruction to the huge tracts of paddy fields and plantations in the valley, and the Waromung villagers had been trying their best to prevent the elephants from causing much damage by keeping vigil and bursting of firecrackers to scare off the animals. “However, this year the elephants are fiercer and the villagers cannot undertake any activity in the Tzuring valley,” it lamented, and cautioned that any situation leading to the loss of lives of either the people or the animal needs to be avoided.
Therefore, the WMC urged the concerned authority to take some remedial measures so as to mitigate the wild elephant menace in the Tzuring Yinten valley. It also asked the Nagaland State Government to depute some officials for on the spot assessment of the destruction caused by the wild animals so that a proper mechanism can be formulated to prevent such human-animal conflict in the future. Furthermore, the WVC strongly appealed to the state government to compensate the affected villagers whose investment in the proposed new village was destroyed by the wild animals.
It also asked the government to look into the plight of the villagers since the pre-monsoon months are crucial in a cultivator’s life and so that the economic life of the villagers is not be affected due to human-animal conflict.
