NILGIRIS: A 55-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant at Chembakolli tribal settlement which is located adjacent to the core division of Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) on Monday night.
Forest department sources said the animal attacked K Kuttan when he was walking from Bosparaa to his house around 8 pm.
The stretch between Bospara and Chambakolli is 1 km and the wild elephants enter the settlement frequently as its boundary of MTR. Locals informed the forest department staff who reached the spot and rushed him to Gudalur government hospital. However, he died at the hospital.
Following the incident locals alleged that the Elephant Proof Trenches (EPT) have not been maintained properly by the forest department because of which animals were entering human habitation. "Actual depth of the EPT is three meters. However now the depth is only one meter as they are filled with soil and the animals are crossing the EPT easily," said M Suresh a tribal of Chembakolli, where 150 families reside. They also alleged that despite raising the demand several times, the government has not taken any action to convert the mud road in the area into a tar road for over seven years.
On Tuesday, RDO Mohammed Kuthurathulla convened a meeting with the forest department, police and Devarsholai Panchayat officials after the relatives of the tribal man refused to accept the body of Kuttan and demanded road facilities.
“Part of the stretch is owned by MTR and as per National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) guideline, NOC permission should be sought for laying the road from NTCA and I have asked the Devarsholai Panchayat Executive officer to apply by following all the guidelines mentioned in NTCA. In this regard, the surveyor is checking the total length of the road in Chembakolli tomorrow. So far the procedure was not followed by the Panchayat officials that’s why such a huge delay in laying the road to the Chembakolli tribal settlement,” he told TNIE.
A total of five people have been killed in wild elephant attacks in the Gudalur forest division so far this year since January. Out of five deaths, two deaths were reported in the Gudalur forest range and three deaths were reported in the O Valley forest range and all of the deceased are male.