Hazaribag: Panic continued in Hazaribag district as a herd of wild elephants created havoc for the third consecutive night, entering Morangi village under sadar block late on Saturday night. The herd was the same group that trampled eight people to death in two villages of Churchu block on Friday, triggering widespread fear across the district.In Morangi village, the elephants damaged the house of Amanasi Singh. The family members narrowly escaped, fleeing their home in the dark. Residents of the adjoining house, including Vikas Kumar Gupta and others in the vicinity, also rushed out in panic, while some villagers locked themselves indoors out of fear.Upon receiving information, the Quick Response Team (QRT) of the forest department rushed to the spot and appealed to the villagers not to provoke or chase the elephants.Officials advised residents to remain indoors or move to safe locations if the herd was sighted. Morangi panchayat mukhiya Dayamani Toppo visited the affected family after learning about the incident and took stock of the damage.Villagers said stray dogs began barking moments before the elephants entered the habitation, alerting the residents. “We have been hearing about elephant movement in nearby villages. When the dogs started barking unusually, we understood something was wrong and became alert,” a villager said. This was the reason why there was no loss of life, they added.Residents of Morangi, Hatiyari, Demotand, Turaw, Pauta, Khambha Tand, Ganeshitand, Hupad, Bhelwara and Chehla spent sleepless nights after the incident. Forest department teams moved across these villages, sounding sirens and urging people to remain cautious.DFO (east forest division) Vikas Kumar Ujjwal said the state govt developed an official mobile application, ‘Hamar Hathi’, to provide real-time information on elephant movement. The app enables live tracking of elephants and aims to reduce human-elephant conflict.“People living near the forest areas should download and use it,” he said.With the same herd already responsible for eight deaths in the Churchu block, villagers demanded intensified patrolling and preventive measures to avert further casualties.The DFO said his team was tracking the movement of the herd and taking all possible steps to push it into the forest area soon.
