Elephant herd damages several houses in Valparai estate

COIMBATORE: A large herd of elephants went on a rampaging spree damaging several houses and a temple at a tea estate in Valparai on Thursday early morning hours.

Around 3 am, a nine-member herd along with their calf strayed into the Kavarkal tea estate. However, elephant intrusions went unnoticed by workers and the forest department due to the lack of an early warning system in the estate.

The elephant herd damaged the doors of a temple. Subsequently, when they broke open the doors and windows of a house and ransacked valuables in search of food by letting their trunks inside, a woman resident woke up panicked and cried aloud for help.

Soon, workers residing in neighbouring houses along with the front-line staff of the forest department rushed to her rescue.

They scared away the elephants into the forest area. Before retreating, the elephants damaged the doors and windows of several other neighbouring houses. As the elephant herd continues to camp in the adjoining forest area, a team from the forest department have been deployed to monitor their movement.

Meanwhile, Assistant Commissioner of Labour Muthupandi inspected the damages caused by elephants in Kavarkal Estate. He also advised the estate management to provide residential facilities for workers in the same place and not scattered to ensure they support each other during emergencies.

In another similar incident in Coimbatore, a frequently crop-raiding wild elephant called ‘Bahubali’ entered a farm owned by Rangasamy at Vachinampalayam in Sirumugai on Wednesday night. It was then chased away by villagers with torch lights and loud noise by villagers.