TIRUPATI: A herd of elephants on the prowl in villages in the bordering mandals of Chittoor district wandered onto a road near Mosalimadugu hamlet in Palamaner mandal on Wednesday morning, causing concern among the public and forest officials.
According to reports, the wild elephants gave commuters on the route leading to a dozen villages in the mandal tense moments by remaining still on the road early in the morning. The forest officials arrived and attempted to carefully drive the elephants back into the forest. It took them nearly 30-45 minutes to drive the
elephants back into the forest.
The forest department alerted the villages that the jumbos that had lately invaded Andhra forests from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka may raid crops in villages in the bordering mandals. According to forest officials, elephant trackers have been deployed, and the forest department has increased the vigil along the forested villages. They cautioned villagers to only move in groups and assured farmers of all the help to prevent further crop damage on account of elephant attacks.
A week ago, a herd of elephants had walked onto the Gudiyattam road close to the same village and created a flutter. They stayed put on the road for nearly four hours, obstructing vehicular movement. Farmers and villagers in surrounding villages were living in fear as they were frequently witnessing pachyderms crossing roads and roaming into human habitations. They allege that despite informing forest officials several times about this menace, nothing concrete has been done yet to prevent the animals from venturing into human habitations.
