Two children were trampled to death by a tusker under Tamada forest range in Sundergarh district, western Odisha, on Saturday night.

The deceased siblings have been identified as Samiya Munda, 12, and Chandini Munda, 3.

The tusker entered the village at night and rammed into a kutcha house. Sources said the kids were sleeping along with their mother inside the house when the incident occurred. Terrified by the sudden attack, the mother managed to escape but was unable to save her two kids.

The elephants destroyed the house, dragged the children out and trampled them to death.

At dawn, angry villagers rushed to the spot and accused the forest officials of neglecting their duties.

“A herd of elephants has been in the area for the last four days. No attempt was made to drive them away. Two of our children died due to the elephant attack. This shows the department’s incompetence,” said an angry villager.

The forest department announced ₹1 lakh as compensation for the bereaved family. Around 624 people have died in elephant attacks in Odisha, the toll being the highest in India.

“Elephants often enter human habitations because lack of adequate food in their natural habitats. If we can solve the problem by creating a solid food base for them, they will stop raiding human settlements,” officials said.

They added: “As elephants struggle to find food in the forests, they turn to paddy fields. However, they have discovered that targeting rice stored in tribal houses is even easier. The smell of stored rice leads them into villages, increasing human-elephant confrontation.”

Officials also admitted that the ongoing mining activities in the tribal-dominated areas are impacting the movement of the elephants. They come out of the forest areas and enter human habitations.

Former honorary wildlife warden, Bhanu Mitra Acharya, told The Telegraph: “Human habitations near forest areas need to be removed. We should protect elephant corridors and give them passage to move from one area to another
area safely.”