Alipurduar, 16th April: A herd of elephants wreaked havoc on several bighas of farmland in the Paschim Madarihat area under the Madarihat block of Alipurduar district. Reports indicate that approximately four bighas of maize and paddy fields were destroyed in the attack.
The affected farmers, identified as Moin Islam, Sirajul Haque, Bhanu Chhetri, and Alimul Haque, claimed that the herd, consisting of 15 to 20 elephants, came from the Jaldapara forest and attacked their crops on Tuesday night.
The victims have raised concerns that the forest department staff failed to reach the spot in time to prevent the damage. They believe that had the forest workers arrived sooner, the destruction could have been minimized.
