A blast of warm air, dried-up water bodies and earth, dry leaves every where...that is the sight that welcomes a visitor at Bandipur. And summer has not even begun. This seems like a drought the region has not seen in at least two decades.
The main water source in the region, Tavarghatta, has dried up. So has Bandipurakere. Sollikatte has met the same fate.
Kirubanakolachi is full of weed and algae. The Athanikatte has gone dry. The situation is the same in other tanks such as Kadamathurkatte, Mallalli, Aanekatte, Nanganapura, Karegowdanakatte, Siddarayanakatte and Dhaiyyadakatte.
There are only a handful of tanks that have some water and are quenching the thirst of the fauna here.
The spectre of drought looms large, and authorities are a worried lot. Some elephants are already moving out of the forest region. The grass has turned dry and yellow, too.
Also, there is also a contagious fever that has shown up in some animals here. Some decades back, such a fever had wiped away many wild animals. This is causing concern among forest officials.