'Operation Kerodi' fails on day one

The team set up by the forest department to carry out the operation had identified the terrain at starting point at Kerodi in Sakaleshpur taluk as extremely difficult. Only after reaching there did the team realise that they had a herculean task before them and that the particular spot would prove to be a major deterrent in the whole operation. The team had put up a tent near Kerodi where they had spotted a few wild tuskers moving about in Haadya hills. The members said the area would have cost the lives of few elephants, had they moved ahead in their mission to trap them. “Had we shot them with tranquilizers, the elephants would have rolled down the ravine since the area is such. Besides, it would have been equally difficult to lift them too,” an official said.

Background

Operation Kerodi was launched by forest department sometime ago following increased incidents of elephants destroying crops and killing people too in the ordeal, when they strayed out from forests in search of food. The plan was to identify wild jumbos who exhibited repeated streaks of attacking crops and men, and trap them in a khedda. Later, they will be moved to training camps.

Though the operation had to be postponed for a day under abominable circumstances, the team expressed confidence that they would be successful in trapping a few jumbos in  3-4 days.