Three women were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants in Kartala forests range of Korba district, officials informed here on Sunday. The victims had gone to a village for gathering ‘Mahua’ from the forest where they confronted a herd of wild elephants where the incident took place, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) JR Nayak informed. The deceased were identified as Maankunwar (33), Dilkunwar (60) and Kamla Bai (50), natives of nearby villages, he said. A group of about 15 to 17 wild elephants had been roaming in the area and in past also there have been instances of property damage by wild elephants he said. Notably ‘Mahua’ is a forest produce that is collected in huge quantity for making local beer. Soon after getting the news of the incident, police personnel and forest officials were rushed to the spot, the DFO informed. According to Forest Department officials, family members of the deceased have been given immediate assistance of Rs10,000 each while they would be compensated with Rs2.90 lakh as per the State Government policy after completing all the formalities in this connection. As per the information, the herd of elephants has moved towards Champa forest region of the district after the incident, he said. The thick forested northern region, comprising Surguja, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur and Koriya district, are notorious for human-elephant conflict incidents. The region has witnessed several killings of tribals and widespread damages to houses and crops by wild elephants during the past years. Notably, authorities in the districts affected by wild elephants have now been taking elaborate measures to keep tuskers out of the human habitats within the forests. Just two days back, with a view to dealing with wild elephant menace in Baikunthpur district, special teams were constituted in affected villages on the directions of District Collector S Prakash. In villages located near forests, a team of 10 youths have been created who will try to keep away wild elephants during night hours. Officials informed that the teams have been provided with torches, Mobil oil mixed with chili powder, fire crackers and similar items. As soon as these teams will get information about movement of wild elephants the Mobil-oil mixed with chili powder are burnt which prevents elephants from entering the village. They have been told to first use fire crackers for deterring elephants. In addition to it, a team of Forest Department has been created which is keeping constant watch over the movement of wild elephants in the region. According to Forest Department officials, ‘Mahua’ trees have started bearing fruits and elephants have good liking for these fruits. Therefore, villagers have been advised to remain alert while going into jungle. They further informed that a group of wild elephants few days back had reached Kelhari and Mainbari village under Manendragarh forest division and had injured a woman. The injured woman has been provided with financial assistance of Rs5000 and she is undergoing treatment at Community Health Centre, Manendragarh. Moreover, Bilaspur Divisional Commissioner Sonmoni Borah recently directed officials to deploy the ‘Elephant Tracking System’ in all the concerned districts of the division. Borah said that plantations should be carried out for arranging food for the elephants which could be saplings of banana, bamboo and miscellaneous species of other plants. He said that the move would also benefit other wild animals. Borah also directed all district collectors to make the rivers and nullahs around the ‘Elephant Corridor’ free of all encroachments for ensuring availability of water for wild animals . He had also asked the officials to rationalise the compensation distribution process for villagers affected by wild elephant problems.