Daijiworld Media Network - Madikeri (SP)

Madikeri, Jun 3: Of late, elephants have been running amuck in the district. They have been destroying crops, uprooting trees and wreaking havoc with normal lives of the people.

In an incident which happened at Balegundi near Valmoor in the district in the early hours of Wednesday June 2, an elephant attacked a house and chased a couple living there.

Swami and Yashoda couple of the tribal colony at Balegundi, were deep asleep when they were attacked by a wild elephant. By the time they properly got back to senses from deep slumber, the house made of sheet was trampled upon by the elephant. Swami also suffered some injuries in this incident.

When the couple started to run away, the elephant chased them. After running behind them for a distance, the wild elephant turned towards the already devastated house. /the couple, who were worried, stayed where they were till Wednesday morning and returned. The couple cannot live in that house anymore as it has been razed to the ground. Their possessions inside the house too were trampled upon and rendered useless.

Meenukolli forester Koodakandi Subraya and forest guard Charan visited the spot and checked the damage. The locals expressed anger at the wild elephant menace and urged the forest department to drive the elephants back into the forests. They also demanded compensation for the loss of house.

Gram panchayat member Bhuvanendra, said that the elephants have been able to reach the villages as the project of building forest fence with the help of steel beams has not been completed. He pointed out that a worker had recently become victim of elephant attack at Ammangala village.