Flood-hit wild elephants pose threat to flood-hit people

 

The disaster-affected people in Polonnaruwa area are now facing the danger of wild elephants, a crisis worsened after the forest reserves in the low-lying areas of the Mahaweli B Zone, including Polonnaruwa were submerged after heavy rain.

Wildlife officials said herds of wild elephants in the forest reserves under water are roaming into the villages. Representatives of farmer organisations said that the human–elephant conflict has aggravated and that the marauding herds are destroying houses and cultivated land. They pointed out that the wild elephants had caused extensive damage to the buildings of Ihala Ellewa Maha Vidyalaya.

Meanwhile, the essential consumer goods received by a displaced family of a farmer in Gallella area in Polonnaruwa from a flood relief team were gulped down by a jumbo. The farmer said the package included sugar, lentils, rice and several other consumer goods.

Gallella, on the boundary of the flood plain forest reserve, is among the villages that have gone under water.