The Purulia Divisional Forest Office (DFO) has stepped up surveillance as a herd of 42 wild elephants continues to roam across different parts of the district during the peak winter tourist season. The heightened concern follows the death of an elderly woman in a recent elephant attack.
Basabala Gope (62) was killed on Friday at Dakai beat under the Jhalda forest range when a stray elephant, believed to have entered from the Dalma forest range in neighbouring Jharkhand, attacked her. According to officials, she was working outside her house when an elephant suddenly appeared and trampled her with its trunk and legs, killing her on the spot. Forest department personnel later recovered the body and sent it to hospital for post-mortem examination.
Anjan Guha, DFO of Purulia, said the department is closely monitoring the movement of the elephant round the clock and efforts are underway to push it back into Jharkhand. He added that the victim’s family would receive compensation as per the state government’s scheme for deaths caused by wild animals.
Of the 42 elephants from the Dalma hills, around 20 are currently roaming in the Jhalda forest range, while another 16 to 17 are moving through the Balarampur range. Officials believe the herd has descended into Purulia in search of water and food, particularly wood apples, which are found in abundance in the district’s green patches.
Forest workers have been deployed across all ranges and beats. The department noted that Purulia’s green cover has increased over the past decade, according to recent data from the ministry of environment, forest and climate change.