Tirupati woke up on April 7 to the shocking news of the movement of a elephant herd close to the city limits. The herd reportedly moved from Srikalahasti area and strayed into Renigunta mandal on Wednesday night via Krishnapuram. Panic was quite palpable among the public as well as the forest officials as the tuskers crossed the railway track to move closer to the Chennai-Tirupati Highway.
They took shelter at Thukivakam tank in view of the scorching heat wave and drank plenty of water to beat the heat, but to the officials’ dismay, started moving towards the city by dawn. This is attributed to the failure of the attempt made to stop traffic on the highway for twenty minutes to let them move to the other side.
On Thursday early morning, the elephants moved close to the residence of Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy in Padmavatipuram, took a detour towards Shilparamam (Urban Haat) and stayed in a shed near the Tirupati Taj Hotel. As the guards slowly drove them towards south, they crossed the Swarnamukhi river towards Rayalacheruvu. The idea is to drive them towards Karvetinagaram, which is not only the nearest, but also a lesser-inhabited route to another forest, though not a thick jungle.
The three-member herd of sub-adults has been moving around the fields and forest fringe villages of Srikalahasti for over a month, occasionally sighted by human beings. “The animals appear to be very composed and are not violent at all. There has not been a single incident of conflict or wilful damage so far. We appeal to the public to allow them to pass quietly”, Divisional Forest Officer G. Pavan Kumar Rao told The Hindu. He also advised the public not to wear white dress in front of them, as the colour tends to irritate the pachyderms.
Though the Seshachalam forest ranges are home to a number of elephants, they have seldom moved out of the forest and there has never been such an incident reported in Tirupati in many decades. However, this herd, believed to be originally from Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border that has strayed into the Koundinya wildlife sanctuary and moved further towards east to reach Tirupati, has apparently caused panic among the residents.
The herd, which has crossed over into Chittoor East forest division on Thursday morning, is expected to be driven back to its original habitat soon.
