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The 15-year-old elephant which had apparently come to quench its thirst in the tank in the wee hours of Friday morning got stuck in the silt.
Its struggle to pull itself out of the slush drew the attention of villagers, who alerted forest officials. As there was no immediate response from the department, villagers brought a rope and tried to pull out the elephant, but failed.
However, forest officials stepped in and pressed in earthmovers to clear the slush. The elephant, which was finally freed from slush, relaxed for more than 30 minutes near the tank before moving towards the woods.
Raju, a resident of Y K Mole, criticised the irrigation and forest officials for not desilting tanks in the region. “Since, waterholes inside the forest have dried up, elephants travel long distances in search of water,” he said.
Meanwhile, forest officials have denied that they failed to respond quickly.