BHOPAL: The movement of wild elephants from adjoining Chhattisgarh has become a growing concern for authorities in Shahdol district of north-eastern Madhya Pradesh, with a recent incident forcing a pause in football training in Bicharpur village, widely known as the ‘Mini Brazil’ of Madhya Pradesh for its rich talent pool of footballers.The presence of a herd of four tuskers recently brought training at the village’s main football ground to a halt for several days. Bicharpur, located just 4 km from Shahdol district headquarters, hosts daily training sessions for over 100 young footballers, aged between 5 and 18 years.“It was perhaps for the first time ever that a herd of wild elephants from Chhattisgarh not only entered Bicharpur but stayed there for two long days at the forest department’s plant nursery, which is just 400-500 metres from the main football ground of the village,” NIS-certified state government coach Raees Ahmad told TNIE on Wednesday.“With the Shahdol district collector asking us to ensure the safety of players in the wake of the elephant herd having stayed put in the forest department’s nursery, we had to largely suspend the soccer practice at the main ground for 2-3 days,” said Ahmad, who is widely credited with sparking the football revolution in the village. Over the past two decades, Bicharpur has produced 60–70 footballers who have gone on to represent Madhya Pradesh in various competitions.One of Ahmad’s former students, Laxmi Sahees, now the soccer coach at the SAI Feeder Centre of the State Sports and Youth Welfare Department in Bicharpur, echoed his concerns. “We are residents of the same village, never have we heard or seen wild elephants enter our village. But the presence of the four elephants in the plant nursery meant that the soccer practice of our talented bunch of children was largely affected. Already, every rainy season, our ground gets occupied by stray cattle. But we managed with them. However, the presence of elephants in the proximity put the brakes on football practice,” Laxmi added.Currently, around 100 to 150 budding footballers train in different groups daily at the main ground. Of them, approximately 40 players aged between 14 and 18 are part of the local sports academy and are regarded as strong prospects for representing Madhya Pradesh at senior levels in the coming years.While the elephant herd disrupted training for 2–3 days, it also allegedly forced the elderly, women, and children of the village to remain indoors until the four tuskers left the village on 14 July. The villagers finally breathed a sigh of relief once the elephants moved out.According to informed sources, the elephants have now travelled around 20–25 km towards the Shahdol–Anuppur border and are believed to be returning to Chhattisgarh.“We’re coordinating with the state forest department to ensure the safety of people in villages through which the elephants are travelling. The residents of those villages are being regularly updated about the movement of elephants, and our round-the-clock patrol teams are ensuring that there is no human-elephant conflict,” Shahdol district police superintendent Ramji Shrivastava told TNIE on Wednesday.Bicharpur, popularly known as the ‘Mini Brazil’ of Madhya Pradesh, has remained a hotbed of football talent for over two decades. The village even caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who not only met its promising young footballers during a visit to Shahdol in 2023 but also praised their inspirational journey during a conversation with podcaster Lex Fridman in March 2025.The movement of wild elephants into Shahdol district, originating either from neighbouring Chhattisgarh or from Madhya Pradesh’s own Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), has become increasingly frequent in recent years. Shahdol lies along a corridor connecting the BTR and the Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve, making it a passage for elephant movement year-round.In a tragic incident in May 2025, three middle-aged and elderly villagers were trampled to death by two elephants in the Sanausi and Dhondha jungles of the Godawal Forest area in Shahdol district. The victims were among many villagers engaged in plucking tendu leaves, a minor forest produce used to wrap tobacco for bidis, when the attack occurred.The increasing frequency of such elephant movements has heightened fears among locals and brought new challenges for authorities trying to balance conservation with community safety.
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