While people in the mountainous regions are facing problems due to leopards, those in the plains are tackling the effects of elephants moving in placed inhabited by humans. An elephant arriving near the BHEL area caused much commotion among the locals here on the weekend.
Solar fencing was erected by the Forest Department on a seven kilometre stretch from Bilkeshwar Temple to Ranipur to reduce the movement of elephants.
This seemed to have some effect initially but on Sunday, an elephant caused a stir by coming through a broken portion of the safety wall.
An elephant came to the Shiva temple in front of Tibdi Shivlok along the safety wall through the BHEL main hospital. On being informed about an elephant entering an inhabited area, the forest department personnel also reached the site. They fired rounds in the air to shoo the pachyderm away towards the jungle.
However, the solar fencing prevented the elephant from crossing over into the woods. The pachyderm then returned to the jungles from where he had come- through the broken wall.
According to local sources, some people have been cutting wood illegally in the forest for quite some time.
It is these people who had reportedly broken through a spot in the safety wall in order to carry out their illegal activities in the jungle.
