Move aside pachyderms, the tea plantations
in north Bengal now have a new visitor ~ the rhino.
In a never before heard incident, a rhino has found its way
inside one of the most secluded tea estates of the region
~ the Jadabpur Tea Estate at Ramshai in Jalpaiguri district.
Ensconced between the Garumara National Park and the Jaldhaka
and Murti rivers, the Jadabpur Tea Estate and its periphery
has always been home to several groups of elephants. To give
the situation an interesting turn, a full grown rhino has
now increased the herbivore population of the plantation.
“The rhino was first sighted inside the plantation on
31 July morning. It literally charged at the workers who were
out on plucking job,” the plantation’s manager
Mr Pradip Ghosh, said today.
According to him, the presence of the rhino and its aggressive
nature has spread panic in the plantation. “All work
has come to a halt in sections 25 to 28 as the rhino has been
sighted several times in that area. It was also seen resting
in the damp conditions of the drains in those sections,”
the manager, said.
In addition to the rhino, a group of about 40 elephants have
also been gallivanting in and out of the plantation for the
past one month. “The elephants generally intrude after
dusk. They have already killed a worker, damaged quarters
and a shop inside the plantation in the past one month’s
time,” Mr Ghosh, said.
Alleging that the elephants and now a rhino are venturing
out of the forest and into plantations because of lack of
fodder inside the forest area, the principal adviser to the
Indian Tea Planters’ Association Mr NK Basu, said: “The
forest department should take notice of the fact and arrange
enough fodder inside the forests.”
Meanwhile, the Jadabpur Tea Estate management is worried over
the entire situation.
“We are concerned about the welfare of our workers and
of the rhino’s health too since it is a full grown one
and has a horn of enviable proportions,” the manager,
said.
He has intimated the forest department of the rhino’s
presence in the plantation and sought cooperation to drive
back the animal into the Gorumara forest from where it apparently
has ventured out.
Courtesy: The Statesman |
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