Collector writes to Forest dept to shift crop-raiding jumbo

Aggrieved farmers submitted a petition to the Collector demanding translocation of the elephant causing damage to crops and posing threat to human lives in the rural areas. 

In a letter shot off to Chief Wildlife Warden in Chennai on Tuesday, Hariharan said that a tusker has been straying into peripheral areas like Varapalayam, Pannimadai, Periyathadagam and Chinnathadagam areas for the past six months. “It has caused a lot of damages to crops like tomato, maize, plantains and coconut saplings cultivated in the area,” he said. 

The Collector also pointed out that despite driving it away into the forest area, the elephant keeps returning again and again to raid crops. “Further, a member of Rapid Response Team has also been injured while involving in the driving operation. Two Kumki elephants were brought from Mudumalai to drive the elephant back, whose behaviour is also monitored using drones. Hence necessary steps should be taken to relocate the elephant to Mudumalai,” he remarked.

It was just a week ago that villagers in Thadagam and Anaikatty areas stuck posters against capturing the wild elephants wandering around in their neighbourhood as they termed them to be harmless.  

Meanwhile, in The Nilgiris, Madevan, 49, a daily wager from Bokkapuram village, was found trampled to death by a wild elephant near a Tasmac shop behind the sericulture farm unit. 

Forest department staff said that a heavily drunk Madevan had slept near the liquor outlet under the influence of alcohol on Monday night. A wild jumbo, which was passing, by the way, had trampled him to death. 

Villagers wanted the Tasmac shop, located near the forest boundary, to be shifted elsewhere due to frequent movement of wild animals.