With incidents of wild elephants intercepting sugarcane-laden lorries and feeding on it continues on the forest stretch of Dindigul-Mysuru National Highway 948, the Forest Department has asked the lorry drivers to not stop their vehicles in the forest stretch or feed the wild elephants.
Sugarcane harvested in Talavadi areas are transported in lorries to the private sugar mill located at Alathukombai in Sathyamangalam taluk. Harvesting season has commenced in the last three weeks and on an average 10 lorries transport sugarcane from Talavadi to the mill every day. From Talavadi, these vehicles have to take the National Highway and cross the Punajanur forest check post in Karnataka and enter Tamil Nadu at Karapallam check post and proceed on the Highway to reach Dhimbam and Bannari.
Elephants frequently cross the Highway on the 4KM stretch from Punajanur to near Karapallam check post that comes under Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT) in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka and on the 6KM stretch from Karapallam check post to Hasanur that comes under Hasanur Forest Range of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR).
