Residents of Dhaliyur in Pannimadai village in Coimbatore district live in fear as a female wild elephant and its calf continue to damage houses by breaking open doors and windows.
They damaged the doors of three houses in the early hours of Wednesday and a couple suffered injuries when they tried to hold the door firm.
Farmers from the locality said the elephants approached the house of Nataraj around 1.45 a.m. and damaged the front door of the house.
As the elephants took out snacks and continued to search for eatables, the house owner threw two cabbages outside to divert them towards the gate.
The same elephants entered Palanisamy Naicker’s farm in the locality and knocked down the metal door of a farmhouse. Kumar, who resides with his wife Thangamani and eight-year-old son, were inside the house.
Mr. Kumar suffered an injury on his hand and lower limb when he tried to hold the door firm as the elephants pushed it from outside. His wife also suffered minor injuries, farmers said.
The elephants pulled out rice bags and kitchenware in search of eatables. They also damaged another house near a farm. The elephants also damaged crops in a few adjoining farms.
“As the elephants have developed a taste for oil cakes, rice bran, etc, farmers are now keeping them inside the house and not at the cow shed. However, elephants are able to sense the smell and find out where these cattle feeds are kept. This could be one of the reasons why they are targeting houses increasingly,” said C. R. Jayaprakash, an environmental communicator and organic farmer from Thadagam.
According to the farmers, the same elephants damaged houses at Dhaliyur on December 8 and 19.
Meanwhile, farmers alleged that the Forest Department was deploying only one night patrol vehicle for several places in Thadagam Valley, namely Kanuvai, Kalayanur, Mangarai, Nanjundapuram, Varappalayam, Dhaliyur and Narasimhanaickenpalayam. They also alleged that the staff reach spots about an hour after giving the alert.
District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj denied the allegation and said there were enough staff to drive out elephants. He said three teams have been deputed to monitor the two elephants exclusively.
