The forest department finally began an operation to drive back wild elephants to forest in Subrahmanya region on Tuesday evening.
Tamed elephants Harsha and Vikram were brought from Kalmakaru village from Dubare elephant camp in Kushalnagar. Both the elephants along with forest department officials, mahouts and a few villagers went inside the dense forest on Tuesday evening in search of wild elephants which had created fear in the minds of the villagers, after killing a farmer last week.
But as they could not trace any wild elephants till late night, the team returned. The team once again started searching for the wild elephants on Wednesday under the guidance of Assistant Conservator of Forest Dr Dinesh.
Speaking to Deccan Herald, Dr Dinesh said that the operation was not intended to catch the wild elephants, but only to drive them back to the forest. Catching elephants is a big task and also requires the permission from the Central government. The operation has begun in Kalmakaru and Kollamogra villages. If the operation yields any positive results, then it will be extended to other affected villages.
The operation will continue for a week, he said. Senior mahout Chinnappa said that pug marks of wild elephants were not traced in the forest due to dry leaves fallen all over the ground. Hence, it would be difficult to trace the elephants. The wild elephants have become a nightmare to villagers as they have been destroying crops.
The elephants also damaged pipes, sprinklers and other irrigation materials, said a villager.
The villages, including Subrahmanya, Ainekidu, Kollamogra, Balugodu and Madappadi are the worse affected. The villagers who are fed up of the menace, convened a meeting at Kollamogra village on Tuesday and demanded the authorities to take immediate action to check elephant menace in the region.
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