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| The elephant herd that was driven back to Udedurgam Reserve Forests |
A herd of 32 wild elephants that entered a mango orchard
near Kelamangalam were driven back to the Udedurgam Reserve Forests by
the forest officials after a four-hour exercise, on Tuesday night.
Sources in the Forest Department told
The Hindu
that over a hundred elephants, in different groups, had entered into the
forest from Bennarghatta RF via the Jawalagiri RF two months ago.
This despite elephant proof trenches being dug for a distance of about 89 km.
Damaged trenches
However,
these trenches were breached by the farmers who wanted to take their
cattle inside the forest for fodder. These damaged trenches helped the
elephants enter into human habitations as well.
The
elephants damaged crops like sugarcane, banana, ragi, paddy as well as
vegetables in and around Denkanikottai, Royakottai, Uthanapalli,
Kelamangalam and Anchetty.
When people saw the herd of 32 elephants wandering near Nilagiri village in Uthanapalli they informed the forest officials.
On
instructions from the District Forest Officer A.K. Ulaganathan, a team
of forest officials and employees headed by Assistant Conservator of
Forests Mr. Soundararajan and Royakottai Ranger Vinobaji chased the herd
into the Udedurgam Reserve Forests bursting crackers and using powerful
search lights.
Police officials headed by the
Assistant Superintendent of Police Vijaykumar prevented the locals from
getting near the herd during the operations, sources said.
While crossing over to the Reserve Forests, the herd trampled to death a calf near Yupuram.
Before
undertaking the elephant eviction drive, the forest officials warned
the public not to venture out of their homes through the public address
system, the sources added.
