Coimbatore:A herd of wild elephants struck terror in a residential area on the outskierts of Coimbatore, ravaging mud houses and teashops on Monday morning. The herd stormed into IOB Colony near Vadavalli early Monday and pulled down thatched houses and teashops. However, no one was injured, said forest department officials.
The elephants have been frequently intruding into the residential colony, bordering the Bolvampatti forest range. It is the 10th such intrusion in six months this year, said forest officials. The Coimbatore forest officials said a herd of seven wild elephants, including a calf, entered the Thondamuthur village and then raided the crops in Thaliyur, Kembanur and Onampalayam on Sunday night. Around 2 am on Monday, they finally reached IOB residential colony near Vadavalli.
The herd damaged a teashop and ransacked the materials in the stall. It then raided the crops nearby. Forest staff rushed to the spot and deployed a 10-member team to drive back the wild elephants into the jungles.
After a nearly a four-hour operation, the wild elephants retreated into the jungles. As wild elephants continue to raid crops on the city’s outskirts, the kumki elephant, Pari, has been deployed in Narasipuram to drive back the wild elephants into the forest.
“Elephant intrusions have been rampant in villages bordering Narasipuram to the Maruthamalai hills. The pachyderms, camping here for the last 15 days, stray into villages and leave after raiding the crops,” said the forest officials.