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| India-Pakistan |
| Woman digs tunnel to flee from elephants |
| 2008-10-06 |
| Jaigaon (Jalpaiguri), Oct. 6: Their tin hut surrounded by marauding elephants on three sides, a 65-year-old woman dug a tunnel with the help of her two grandsons to escape through the rear this morning. Around 2am, Maneshwari Burman was awakened by trumpeting in her kitchen, a few yards from where she slept with Pradip, 14, and Arjun, 10. “We knew that to talk would be to die and so looked at each other. Along with us was Bindu, a neighbour who had come to sleep at my home last night,” said Maneshwari. The family heard the animals gorge on its paddy. “I was frightened but knew that to survive we would have to find a way out. The elephants could break down the tin walls any moment,” Maneshwari said. While Pradip kept an eye on the animals, Maneshwari and Arjun started digging the floor. “We struck the mud floor with a khunti (spatula) and scooped out the soil with brass bowls. In half-an-hour, we created a 1.5ft deep, 3.5ft long hole. It ended outside the wall,” the elderly woman said. Arjun and Pradip were the first to jump into the ditch and come out in the courtyard. Bindu was too frightened to follow. But Maneshwari crawled out. With her grandsons in tow, she stood silently for some time in the courtyard before making a run for her neighbour’s house, 200m away. “The neighbours were surprised. They had taken us for dead,” said Pradip. Bindu stayed in the hut for another hour before she felt the elephants had retreated from one side and took a chance. She opened the door and ran. The herd of 40 had strayed into Rabindranagar, in Madarihat block of Jalpaiguri, 28km from here, from Dhumki forest. Foresters said they first entered the paddy fields of Hemkumar Chhetri around midnight and wreaked havoc across over 3 acres. Then they damaged over 70 betel nut trees of Bhajan Sharma before surrounding Maneshwari’s house. A forest team arrived around 3am and took four hours to push the herd back into the forest skirting the village. Rabindrangar is familiar with elephants, it has frequent brushes with them. But such bravado as Maneshwari’s is rare. The range officer of Jaldapara (north), Rajendranath Dakua, said: “The woman’s efforts saved four lives.” The boys’ parents live 30km away, in Falakata, where they work as daily labourers. The ranger said the herd was on its way to Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary, across National Highway 31. “Rabindranagar is on the route.” |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 YOGI BEAR's Pic-A-Nic Baskets??? JELLYSTONE's is in Asia??? Gut Nuthin. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-10-06 19:52 |
| #1 The Palestinians should make her an honorary citizen of Gaza. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-10-06 18:56 |