Chennai, May 31 (BPNS)
Forest officials of Gudalur forest range are on high alert after two elephants- a makana and a tusker killed two people in Baram and Arattuparai forest areas on Thursday and Friday. While a 46-year-old tea shop owner was killed on Thursday by an elephant, a 40-year-old woman was killed on Friday night while she was returning home along with her husband at 9 pm.
The forest department has already set up an early warning system and has created a WhatsApp group of local people to provide information on the movement of elephants. Forest officials have warned general public not to venture out of homes during early morning hours as well as after 7 pm. The early warning system was installed at Barwood and will install early warning systems at Baram, Arattuparai, and Vagaimaram with immediate effect.
Forest department said that when wild elephants are spotted the early warning system will alert public.
Local people told BPNS that the elephants were spotted at Seaforth field number 10 on Monday evening and have already deployed Rapid Response Force (RRF) of the forest department as well as kumki elephants in four spots that are vulnerable. Anti-poaching watchers are also deployed round the clock in the forest range areas in search of killer elephants.
Kumki elephants, Srinivasan, Vijay, Shankar, and Krishna are deployed at residential areas near the O- Valley forest range. Forest department has also made arrangements to pick and drop school children in department four-wheelers in areas where bus services are less. A senior officer of the Forest department of Gudalur told BPNS that the department is picking students from Subash Nagar and Arattuparai where bus services are lacking.
