Villagers have found a new way to lodge protest against the forest officials—chop off trees in their territory to invite their attention.
Irked by what they called the callous attitude of forest officials to keep a tab on the menace of wild tuskers, villagers in a forest range of Jashpur district have chopped off more than 150 trees.
The poor villagers were baffled with the increasing terror of tuskers in their area.
Scores of villages in Surguja, Jashpur, Koriya, Korba and Raigarh districts in northern Chhattisgarh have been affected by elephant attacks for more than a decade.
In a fresh spate of terror, tuskers crossing into Chhattisgarh from neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Orissa caused immense damage to the standing crop and “kutcha” houses in the villages coming under Manora and Khuypani forest ranges in Jashpur district—about 500 kms from here.
The former Janpad Panchayat President of Jashpur, Shashi Bhagat said that the villagers had written letters to the forest officials on number of occasions.
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Since the forest officials did not pay any heed, the irked villagers found a new way to lodged their protest against the government and invite the attention of authorities towards their grievances.
“The villagers had chopped off as many as 150 trees in last two days to protest against the tuskers’ menace in the area,” forest ranger of Manora Rajendra Sisodia said.
The villagers have warned to continue with the agitation if the forest officials’ alleged negligence continues, he added.