Elephant herd seen on banks of Shimsha River in Karnataka's Mandya

Maddur: A herd, of six elephants, is camping on the banks of Shimsha River, near Sri Hole Anjaneya Swamy temple in Maddur town of Mandya district, on Monday. Forest officials will take steps to drive them back to forests after sunset.

Devotees of the temple were both happy and also afraid, seeing the jumbos near the temple. They said the herd would have arrived near the river around 6 am, on Monday. People of Maddur town and nearby places are thronging the banks of Shimsha river in huge numbers, to see the pachyderms.

Following rains over the last fortnight in the region, there is adequate water in the river and the elephants were playing in it.

Range Forest Officer Gaviyappa said, the elephants would have strayed away from the nearby Halagur forest of Malavalli taluk. “It is difficult to drive the elephants back to forests during the day. So, we are camping here to ensure that no untoward incident happens. We will drive them back after sunset,” he said.