The residents of several settlements in Miklajung Rural Municipality in Morang district have been living under constant fear of wild elephants for the past three months. 

A herd of wild tuskers have been visiting the settlements, mainly at night, and spreading terror. The animals tear down homes, and damage crops and vegetables in the areas. 

“A herd of around 25 wild elephants enters the settlement from Hangsedumse forest of neighbouring Jhapa district. The tuskers later split into three-four groups and devastated the paddy fields and homes,” said Ram Paudel of Kaseni in Miklajung-6. 

Wards 6, 7 and 8 of Miklajung Rural Municipality that borders Jhapa district are the most affected by the elephant menace. Kaseni, Khamejhoda, Katale and Betani settlements of Miklajung-6; Mawadagi of Miklajung-7 and Mawa Toribari of Miklajung-8 are the hardest hit by the elephants. 

People generally prepare to go to bed after having evening meals. But the locals of Miklajung have to patrol the areas with flaming torches on hand. Every night, they make bonfires and loud noises by beating pots and pans to chase away the menacing elephants. 

“The villagers are losing sleep because they have to remain vigilant to keep the elephants away,” said Kishor Niraula, another local of Kaseni. 

There are around 200 households in wards 6, 7 and 8 of Miklajung Rural Municipality. The villagers have a tough time protecting their crops, houses and other properties from the elephants. 

As per the data available at the rural municipality office, the wild elephants tore down 11 houses in wards 6, 7 and 8 of Miklajung and damaged paddy planted in about 500 bigha [338 hectares] of land for the past three months. “Soon after we chase away one herd of tuskers another group enters the area. 

Though we stay awake the whole night we are unable to stop elephants from damaging crops and destroying houses,” local Dipak Basnet expressed his frustration. 

The local people complained that the authorities concerned were indifferent to resolving the hardships caused by the marauding elephants. 

“We don’t have resources to control the wild elephants. The local unit provides relief to the affected people, but is unable to stop the terror caused by the tuskers,” said Babi Kumar Rai, the chairman of Miklajung Rural Municipality. 

According to him, the local unit informed the higher authorities about the situation and urged them to take necessary initiatives to control the elephants. Rai informed that the rural municipality provided Rs800,000 as compensation to the affected people in the current fiscal year. 

The rural municipality has a policy of providing compensation for the houses destroyed and crops damaged by the wild elephants. The wild elephant menace is a recurring problem of Miklajung areas. Every year, these animals destroy houses and crops in hundreds of hectares each year. 

According to Rai, Yam Bahadur Bohara, a 51-year-old local from Kaseni, was killed in an attack by a wild elephant last year.