KAKINADA: On the orders of the Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan, forest department officials accelerated efforts to capture the tiger which has been roaming in East Godavari, Polavaram, and Kakinada districts for the past 16 days.
Its movements terrified nearby villagers; moreover, it has already killed some cows and other cattle.
As a result, farmers and cattle rearers have suffered losses. Relocating cattle has proven extremely challenging. Farmers and agricultural laborers now fear venturing into their fields. Over the past 16 days, forest officials have blocked several roads as a preventive measure to check attacks on humans. .
In this situation, Deputy CM directed the forest department to capture the tiger at the earliest.
The Tiger made a U-turn from Annavaram (Pampa Reservoir) toward a rocky hill near the KGBV (Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya) hostel in Sankhavaram mandal, Kakinada district.
On Monday morning, it moved towards Sankhavaram high school to attack cattle, but all livestock had already been relocated on the directions of the forest department officials. Residents are panicked due to tiger’s presence.
The tiger later headed toward Mallapuram village in the agency area.
Forest department officials tracked its movements using drone cameras on Monday.
Eleven Hanuman teams, three tranquilizer teams, two drone teams, one VHF signal receiver team, one ambulance from Visakhapatnam Zoo, and four Rapid Response and Rescue (RRR) teams are now deployed to capture it.
As per the directions of Kakinada District Forest Officer (DFO) N. Ramachandra Rao, the teams from Rajamahendravaram, Yeleswaram, and Kakinada RRR have taken position. They are continuously monitoring the tiger’s movement with drones around the clock. If it enters human habitations, they are prepared to tranquilise it immediately.
Hanuman teams have been alerted in Gairampeta village near G. Kothapalli in Sankhavaram Mandal.
By Monday night, the tiger reached a rocky hill at Gairampeta’s water pond, prompting deployment of Hanuman teams for overnight monitoring to catch the big cat.