Villagers lit fire, shout en masse and beat plates throughout the night to save crops and human settlements from marauding tuskers, said Arbin Chaudhary, a local of Ratanpur VDC. [break]
A few days ago a herd of elephants destroyed houses of two locals and ravaged their paddy and maize crops. "We stay awake in the night fearing elephant attacks," Chaudhary said.
On Friday, tuskers had demolished the houses of Ratan BK, Jit Bahadur Rawal, Hasti BK, Madhuri Sarki and Padam Sarki at Ram Shikharjhala-2 and destroyed paddy planted in around 10 bighas of land.
It is said that elephants from Duduwa National Park of India enter Nepal through Kartaniyaghat, Bhuiyaphant and Phulbari. As deforestation is said to be on rise here, elephants descend on villages due to depleting forest cover.
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