Elephant herd go on rampage in Valparai

COIMBATORE: Elephant herd went on a rampage damaging several houses across Valparai, sending shockwaves among workers residing in the estate areas.

A herd of eight elephants, including a calf, strayed into Vellamalai Estate on Tuesday, early morning, in search of food. They first damaged a tea shop before going on a damaging spree targeting houses. They broke the walls, doors, and windows of around four asbestos-roofed houses. One of them had completely crumbled in the impact of the attack.

Similarly, the elephants damaged the rear side wall of a temple at Sirukundra Estate on the way to the Sincona area. A push cart near the Koolangal River area, a tourist spot, was damaged by elephants.

Such multiple incidents of attacks come a day after a 55-year-old woman and her three-year-old granddaughter were trampled to death by a wild elephant after damaging their house in the Water Falls area.

Meanwhile, Pollachi Member of Parliament K Eswarasamy on Tuesday presided over a meeting in Valparai with officials of various departments to initiate measures to prevent man-animal conflicts. He urged officials, including the municipality and forest department, to ensure better lighting in estate areas and identify conflict-prone areas, to enhance monitoring by the forest department.

He insisted that the forest department be in a state of preparedness to attend wild elephant intrusions. He also assured to take up the issue with Chief Minister MK Stalin to implement mitigation projects to prevent life loss in animal attacks.