In order to warn motorists and pedestrians about the presence of elephant ‘crossing points’ in the Gudalur forest division, forest officials have designed high-visibility signboards to be installed at 34 locations shortly.
Unlike older ones that are often verbose with plenty of texts, the new signboards designed by the Forest Department are bright and will attract the attention of road users, with only ‘Elephant Crossing’ emblazoned on them.
The colours are also more striking, with the dark silhouette of a tusker superimposed onto a yellow background. The design was formulated by officials at the Gudalur division of the Nilgiris Forest Department and are to be installed in a few days.
Sources said that 13 persons died as a result of startled elephants attacking them in and around Gudalur in 2016.
The new boards are to replace the existing, faded signboards and will also be placed at a few other points where elephant sightings have increased and there have been more recorded instances of them crossing.
The Forest Department had studied areas that had a high incidence of elephant sightings and conflict while also factoring in tourist flow through the route before deciding on points where the signs would be fixed.
P.K.Dileep, District Forest Officer (Gudalur Division), said that it was hoped that the new signboards would help bring down the number of human fatalities and injuries arising from human-elephant conflicts.
“The boards will also help keep tourists informed of the key crossing points for elephants and keep them safe,” Mr. Dileep said.
The signboards are to be placed at the Deivamalai dump yard, Silver Cloud Checkpost, Thorappalli, Bennai, Mukatti, and near Nilakottai Government Higher Secondary School among others.
