Fear of encounter with wild elephants grips residential areas of Marudhamalai foothills in Coimbatore

The conflict situation at the Marudhamalai foothills escalated after a female elephant and its calf that had caused damages in villages surrounding the Marudhamalai hills some months ago returned to those locations. The mother-calf duo has caused damages to several houses and shops in the past. Already, a few tuskers and small herds are regularly moving along the forest fringes. A lone tusker entered the compound of a house at Balaji Nagar at the #Maruthamalai foothills near #Coimbatore early on Wednesday morning. @THChennai pic.twitter.com/zz9PgewW5v Officials with the Forest Department said that the mother-calf duo had been roaming in parts of Kerala, Madukkarai and Boluvampatti forest ranges in the Coimbatore Forest Division, before they returned to Marudhamalai foothills in Coimbatore range after a few months gap. The mother elephant damaged the rolling shutter of a provision store at T.K. Rangabashyam Nagar in I.O.B. Colony at the foothills around 4.45 a.m. on Tuesday. B. Sundar Raman, who has been residing in the area since 1996, said the conflict situation started in 2012. According to him, frequencies of visits by elephants considerably increased in the last two years. Starting from 2023, Mr. Raman sent mails to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest Department) and Chief Conservator of Forests seeking immediate intervention. Mr. Raman said that at least five people died in the attacks of elephants in villages surrounding Marudhamalai hills in the past two years and most of the victims were from poorer sections of society. On Wednesday morning, the lone tusker broke opened the door of a house at Balaji Nagar in I.O.B. Colony and entered the compound. The elephant left the compound after checking the premises for eatables. On June 22 night, a tusker entered Arul Nagar at I.O.B Colony and attempted to damage the gate of a house even as the house owner and his wife managed to escape. “Since the frequency of elephants entering residential areas increased, people are afraid to go out at night and early morning. One can expect elephants on any road or even in the backyard,” said a youth from I.O.B. Colony. District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj said a total of 12 staff have been posted for night patrols in residential areas at the Marudhamalai foothills to deal with wild elephants and drive them back to forests. “Three teams comprising four staff each do the night patrols in these residential areas. This is the highest number of staff deployed in any area in the Coimbatore Forest Division for night patrols,” he said. On May 23, a tusker that entered the Bharathiar University campus and attacked a security guard, who died on the spot. In another incident, a 75-year-old man from Leprosy Colony at the Marudhamalai foothills suffered minor injuries after being pushed by a wild elephant on June 15 morning. Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Coimbatore / nature and wildlife / habitat (conservation)