Tribals fear elephants, build houses on trees in Jharkhand

Ghatshila (Jharkhand), June 21 : Tribals in Jharkhand have started living on tree tops to escape from the increasing menace of elephants ravaging their houses.

They said that the elephants have been plundering their poorly built thatched houses as they could not afford concrete structures.

The tribals said that elephants have in recent months destroyed dozens of houses and trampled many people to death.

"We don't have houses and these elephants trouble us a lot. So, we have built our houses on tree tops," said Sundari Sabat, a tribal woman.

With decreasing forest cover and extension of human habitations into their habitats, the tribals now built houses using bamboo sticks, tree logs and other such material available in the forest area.

Villagers living near the tribal dwelling also observed that the elephants come out of the forest area and the tribals become their initial targets.

"The reason behind these tribals building their houses on tree tops is that these elephants go on a rampage. They work during the day and night," said Tapan Kumar, a villager.

Despite the fact that trees give out harmful carbon monoxide gases during the night time, the tribals feel that the trees cannot harm them to an extent that the elephants do. By Girija Shankar Ojha

ANI