COIMBATORE: Residents and shop owners at Pandanthorai near Gudalur hoisted black flags on Monday protesting the Forest department’s failure to prevent Arisiraja, a makna elephant which raided shops and houses in the locality and fed on rice and other grocery items.
Though Forest officials named the male elephant Pandalur Makna 2, the residents call him ‘Arisiraja’ as the animal prefers rice (arisi in Tamil) over other items.
S Suresh, a resident of Chelukkady village, said the black flag protest was provoked by the elephant’s frequent intrusions.
“On November 13, we blocked a road in protest seeking the Forest department to prevent the elephant from visiting our locality. It’s been a month since and no action is taken,” he said.
Arisiraja continued to damage houses and crops in farmlands, despite the Forest department deploying two kumki elephants to control the makna, the villager said.
“A 48-year-old woman suffered damage to her spinal cord after the elephant attacked her and is bedridden. We request the Forest department officials to capture the makna,” Suresh said.
According to Forest department sources, Arisiraja on Monday moved to Devala, which is five km from Padanthorai.
The officials have decided to take two Kumki elephants to Devala in order to prevent further damages to properties of the residents there.
‘Can only drive away elephant, not capture it’
A Gudalur Forest Division official said they had obtained permission to only drive the ‘trouble-making’ elephants, including Arisiraja, away, but not to capture the animal as demanded by the people of Pandanthorai.