Want vote? First tame the tusk force here
Maoists are a menace in Bankura. But they seem to be less adept in terrorising than elephants in this West Bengal district.
Herds of wild elephants have been wreaking havoc almost every day across large swathes of Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency since the 1980s. Such is the dread of the ‘tusk force’ that locals want the animals to be kept at bay.
“The elephants are a bigger problem than anything else. So whoever can assure the people of safety from the trunked marauders can get the maximum votes. This is a rare constituency where elephants can said to be ruling the politics,” said Susmita Bauri, CPM representative seeking reelection from the Bishnupur seat.
She would know; she spent much of the past five years listening to ‘haathi horror’ tales.
Parul Barui of Loharpara village, for instance, has had her house demolished many a time by jumbos in search of paddy and vegetables. She said: “We have stopped repairing our walls since it entails expenditure. What’s the point when the elephants will pull them down?”
Since 2002, marauding elephants have killed 250 villagers and injured many others. The last victim on February 16 this year was six-year-old Ashish Lohar. “Every year dozens of villagers are either killed or mauled by ele- phants and property worth crores of rupees are destroyed. Most of the elephants have made the area their habitat, adding to the villagers’ problems,” Bauri said.
The state government has in the past 13 years paid R11 crore to the villagers as compensation for damages caused by the elephants. But this, locals say, is not enough.
“The elephants have stolen our sleep, our peace of mind. The only thing we want from the vote-seeking leaders is a permanent solution,” said Buddha Barui, who lost paddy grown on an acre of land.
At a rally last year, chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked the villagers what they want from the government. They replied: “Didi, haathi, haathi (Didi, please solve the elephant problem).”
Bishnupur’s T rinamool Congress candidate Soumitra Khan kept that in mind to talk elephants. So have BJP’s Jayanta Mondal and Narayan Chander Khan of Congress.