Wild jumbos wreck havoc in Okotso village

Eastern Mirror Desk Dimapur, Jan. 4: The wild elephant menace continues in Wokha district as a herd created havoc in Okotso village on New Year’s Day by destroying several farmhouses and vegetable fields belonging to the villagers. Chairman of Okotso village Chumdemo Ngullie told Eastern Mirror on Friday that elephants destroyed four farmhouses and several vegetable fields belonging to self help group that is sponsored by the department of Horticulture and farmers from the village on Jan. 1. It may be mentioned that at least three vegetable fields were ravaged at Mekokla village, in Wokha district on the same day. The Okotso village chairman has said that officials from neither the district administration nor forest department have visited the village to assess the situation. Admitting that he had reported the matter to the Forest Ranger of Pangti, he stated that he hasn’t heard from anyone so far. Ngullie has said that no new incident has been reported after Jan. 1 but that some elephants have been sighted in the village area. Human-elephant conflict has escalated in Wokha of late with a herd numbering over 30 created havoc in Old Riphyim, New Riphyim, Old Changsu, and Mungya villages during June and July 2018, affecting over 90 farmers. During November and December last year, elephants were spotted at New Wokha and Mekokla villages, killing one person and severely injuring another. Crops and vegetations were severely ravaged and several farmhouses were destroyed. Due to increasing reports of human-elephant conflict, a joint assessment was carried out by the district-level committee in 2018 to assess the loss of human life, domestic animals, crops, and farmhouses caused by the elephants. It revealed that properties belonging to around 165 families hailing from eight villages -- New Changsu, Ekhoyan, Old and New Riphyim, Wokha village, New Wokha, Seleku, and Mekokla -- were badly affected. The committee put the damage caused by the wild elephants in Wokha district in 2018 at INR 17 lakh.