A herd of wild elephants has been trapped in a forest in Sarlahi district for the last one and a half months after their route was blocked by the rail track and bridges that are being built between Bardibas and Simara as part of the Mechi-Mahakali Railway Project.

Ashok Ram, assistant conservation officer of Parsa National Park, said the elephants had used the bio-corridor that cuts through Saptari, Siraha and Mahottari districts before reaching the forest in Ishworpur, Sarlahi. 

“The elephants had even crossed the railway project site. But now they are unable to return as the ground has been raised by several metres to lay the rail track,” he said.

The trapped elephants are getting desperate by the day. They have started to enter nearby settlements, like Hairapur, Lalbandai and Ranigunj, in search of food.

The marauding herd has already demolished around 40 huts and destroyed crops planted on several hectares of land in these settlements.

“Since the rail track is runs through the bio-corridor, the project should have been planned in a way so that the wildlife movement is not hindered,” Ram said.    

A technical team from the PNP has already made two attempts at returning the elephants, but to no avail.

Troubled by the elephants, villagers have been urging the authorities to chase away the elephants. 

The railway track is being installed in the area after the Department of Railways completed the detailed project report of the Bardibas-Simara section of the 945-km Mechi-Mahakali Railway Project.