
MADIKERI: A herd of five elephants, including a calf, was rescued on Wednesday after they got stuck in a slushy pond at a coffee estate in Palangala, Virajpet taluk, Kodagu district.Coffee grower Mittu Aiyappa and his family heard the cries of the elephants at 8 pm on Tuesday but they did not realise that it was from their estate.
At 6 am on Wednesday, they went to the estate and saw the elephants stuck in the pond. Later, with the help of Forest Department staff, the elephants were rescued at around 11 am on Wednesday.A trench was dug using an excavator to bring them to safety.
Earlier, when Forest Department officials led by Virajpet RFO Gopal rushed to the spot to rescue the elephants, they were stopped by Palangala villagers who demanded the presence of Virajpet DCF besides a permanent solution to the elephant menace. “Three people have been killed so far by elephant attacks in the village and many have been injured.
When an elephant is killed, then the villagers are made to go through hell with investigations and seizing of guns.Until you provide us with a permanent solution, we will not let you carry out the rescue operation,” Karineravanda Ramesh and other protesting villagers told the forest official.
When the official failed to convince the villagers, DCF Maria Christhu Raja visited the spot and convinced the villagers that a meeting will be convened soon to discuss the issue. The DCF said elephant menace in Palangala has increased in the past nine months owing to water scarcity in the forests.
“The region has not witnessed much rain and elephants are entering villages in search of water. We will forward a proposal to the state government requesting permission to capture these elephants. Compensation to the affected grower will be released as per norms,” he said.
Estate owner Mittu Aiyappa attributed the elephants straying away from forest to the encroachments of ‘devara kadu’, which used to be homes for these elephants.“Elephants have become a part of our village. They come and then return to the forests. This has been the case for the past five years now. We have stopped bursting crackers to chase them away as this causes more damage. We also never get out of the house during early morning hours and after 6 pm as that is when the elephants usually enter the village.”
Calling their village road a “wild elephants’ highway”, Deepa Muthanna, another resident, said she saw 10 more elephants walking through the village to enter the forest. She also expressed apprehension over the safety of children owing to frequent sighting of elephants.