COIMBATORE: Lack of proper road access to a tribal village hampered efforts of the forest department to drive away a rampaging wild elephant in Gudalur on Thursday night.
The ‘mundakunnu’ tribal village is located near Nadukani in Gudalur taluk. Road facility to reach the tribal village is available only for a particular distance, as after there is bridge to cross over river and thereafter, a mud stretch that remains completely battered. The rains have made the situation worse. It has been a long time demand of villagers to lay proper roads to their locality.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, 11pm, a wild elephant entered the locality and damaged the doors of a house, where farmer Anand resides with his family. After breaking through the door, the elephant began to pull out the household items. The scared family members shouted for help. Other villagers informed the forest department, who unfortunately couldn’t turn up due to lack of roads. “After coming a short distance, the forest department staff couldn’t proceed to the village in their vehicles due to lack of access road. By then, the elephant damaged more than 50 plantains and remained there till Friday early morning. It then retreated into the forest area,” said a staff. Villagers demanded proper roads for their convenience during emergencies.