The Chandil forests of Seraikela-Kharsawan district is on high alert over the entry of elephants from neighbouring Bengal after three of them slipped into the range late on Monday night with some more following suit.

With paddy farming in Chandil sub-division round the corner, foresters are aware that elephants from Bengal would soon make their presence felt and put life of people and at risk. “Farmers have started preparing for paddy farming. This would provide enough fodder to the jumbos from Bengal who amble to our forest pockets every year. We need to be alert to prevent any untoward incidents,” said Chandil forest range officer Ashok Kumar.

Speaking to The Telegraph Online, he confirmed three elephants from Bengal had already arrived. “We have a team of 75 people who are engaged in driving away the elephants. We engage village youths on daily wages for the job. The youths accompany us by carrying mashals (torches) and drums. Besides a forest patrol vehicle, we also hire four-wheelers for this risky job,” the range officer added.

According to him, they would also avail of the services of elephant driving teams from Bankura in Bengal. “Depending on the situation, we would like to call experts from Bankura. Two separate teams from Bengal successfully shepherded the elephants last year,”Kumar said.

The Chandil range office has already distributed crackers among villagers with instructions to only burst them when elephants are spotted near their homes. “Unnecessary bursting of crackers irrirates elephants and leads them to attack humans and homes. We are seriously working to minimise man-elephant conflict in our forest range,” he added.

The range officer said the tusker which had been destroying homes from some days had moved towards the Chandil dam. “The jumbo, who remains aloof from the herd, is enjoying his bath at the dam. The elephant is no longer targeting homes and would leave the forest range once dam water recedes,” Kumar said.

According to him, a herd of about 15 elephants that was stationed at the Chandil forest range had moved to Tamar (near Ranchi). “The herd had come from Tamar and has now left our forest range,” he added.

The Chandil forest range is the favourite of elephants from Tamar, Seraikela-Kharsawan and neighbouring Bengal. The herds often slip into the range to damage standing paddy, destroy homes and wipe out food.

Kumar said elephants were roving animals. “At the best, we can make preparations to minimise their entry into villages and farmland. However, it is a tough and risky task,” he added.