SILIGURI, : Over 150 forest staff and police personnel are faced with a
challenging task to push back a wild male elephant (Makhna) that entered North
Bengal University (NBU) campus on Saturday morning.
As
nightfall approached, the Forest officials continued to struggle in diverting
the elephant from the university’s social forestry area. The situation has been
worsened by overcrowding with hundreds of people flocking to the campus to
catch a glimpse of the wild elephant.
The
university administration has already issued an advisory alerting the hostel
students to stay indoors and avoid unnecessary movement.
Registrar
Dr.Nupur Das said, “The lone elephant is still inside our campus. We have
issued an alert to students, and our security personnel have been on duty since
morning to control the crowd. The elephant somehow made its way onto the
campus, and I request everyone not to harm the animal.”
Forest
officials, including CCF (Hills) Sameer Gazmer, ADFO Rahul Banerjee, Bagdogra
Forest Ranger Sonam Bhutia, along with the elephant squad team from Sukna and
staff from six ranges as well as members of NGO Jumboo Troops, were present
on-site to monitor the elephant’s movement.
Sameer
Gazmer said it has been particularly challenging due to the unruly crowd,
prompting the need for additional support from Matigara Police Station.
Sonam Bhutia
warned of possible casualties if the crowd is not brought under control and
stressed the importance of cooperation from local residents.
In
the early hours of Saturday, the elephant caused damage to some shops and
movable vendor carts near the State Bank of India area within the NBU campus.
Students
from both girls’ and boys’ hostels have expressed concern, fearing the elephant
may become more aggressive if it is not guided out of the campus soon.
