Visakhapatnam: Elephant goes on rampage on highway

 Visakhapatnam: A male elephant went on a rampage and damaged the windshield of a passenger bus on its way from Rayagada to Srikakulam on Monday morning.

There were no injuries and the elephant paced up to a nearby water body. As a precautionary measure, the local tahsildar imposed a ban on the gathering of people.

Eyewitnesses said the elephant charged towards the bus and damaged its windshield. The passengers rushed out and ran to safety.

A video clip that went viral showed the elephant chasing people including children to a distance. Locals alerted the police and forest officials.

The male elephant was known as Hari. “It is not in musth. It looked disturbed and was unable to walk properly in the morning. Somehow it walked up to the water body and cooled down. We told local villagers to stay alert and maintain a distance without provoking the animal,’’ district forest officer Prasuna said.

Meanwhile, she recommended the tahsildar to impose ban orders under Section 144 for the people’s safety. The forest department would compensate the loss suffered by the bus owner, she said.

The DFO said there were still six elephants including this lone male. There were 14 of them in May but four got killed when they tried to pull down a transformer of high voltage.

The government would construct a temporary shelter for elephants that would cost Rs 5 crore, she stated.