MUNNAR: An elderly man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Singukandam near Suryanelli in Munnar on Wednesday morning. Babu, 60, of Kripasanam House in Singukandam, had stepped out of the house to alert the neighbours about the presence of wild elephants in the area when a jumbo attacked him from behind and trampled him to death. The incident occurred at 6 am.
Increasing man-elephant conflict has pushed the residents of Singukandam, Chinnakanal and Anayirankal to the brink in recent years and 34 people have been killed by wild elephants in the area during the past seven years. The area is a habitat of wild elephants and there is constant presence of elephants in the vicinity of Anayirankal dam.
“A herd of 24 wild elephants including three male elephants and a male calf has been roaming the area for the past few months. We have deployed guards to monitor the movement of the herd. The herd was camping in Singukandam from midnight on Tuesday. Babu had stepped out of the house at 6 am on Wednesday when the elephant attacked him from behind. He died on the spot and the body was shifted to Adimali Taluk hospital for postmortem examination,” said Devikulam range officer Job J Neriamparambil.
“The Anayirankal area is a habitat of wild elephants and installation of solar fencing is not practical here. A herd of 24 elephants has been moving in a circular path from Meesapulimala to Thondiyar, Sankarapandian Medu, Singukandam and 301 colony. Recently the PWD has allocated Rs 7 crore to construct underpasses at four points to facilitate the elephants to cross the National Highway so that there is no threat to commuters. The underpasses will be constructed between Devikulam and Bodimettu,” said Munnar DFO Raju K Francis.
A wild elephant had attacked a couple travelling on a bike at Poopara in Anayirankal in September 2021. Viji, 35, was trampled to death by the elephant while her husband Kumar escaped with injuries.
“We have been pleading with the forest department to save us from elephant attacks for more than a decade. In Singukandam alone, six people were killed by wild elephants in the last five years. We are living in constant fear. Our families have been living here for the past 70 years and have not been provided title deeds,” said N G Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Singukandam.