A herd of four elephants killed a tribal person on Sunday night near Eguvaragada village of Hirmandalam in Srikakulam district, causing worry among the villagers of many mandals.
Keesarabodu Tavitayya (70) lost his life when he was returning from a marriage. The elephants reportedly dragged his body for two km.
Forest Department senior officials, including Srikakulam District Forest Officer Ch. Shanti Swaroop, visited the spot and announced Rs.5 lakh exgratia for the family of the deceased.
Legal tangles aggravate worries
The elephants entered Andhra Pradesh from the Lakheri forest of Odisha seven years ago and never returned owing to availability of abundant water and food in Palakonda region.
The government had announced ‘Operation Gaja’ following an uproar from locals over frequent elephant attacks. A trench was also proposed to be dug. But it was stopped due to non-availability of funds.
Such attacks have become order of the day in many villages of Palakonda, Kotturu, Hiramandalam areas. The Forest Department proposed to send the pachyderms to one of the zoological parks but legal tangles stopped the proposal.
Mr. Swaroop The Hindu on Monday that the department had urged the government to sanction six more elephant trackers, as the existing three persons were unable to observe their movements continuously. “We planned to send the four wild elephants to a zoological park. But the Odisha High Court had stayed it. That is why we are unable to shift them and save tribals on the AP-Odisha border,” he said.
The elephant menace continues unabated in several mandals of the district for the last 10 years. As many as eight persons were killed by elephants in the last decade.
Over Rs. 5 crore worth crops got damaged in many mandals. With alleged poor coordination between Revenue and Forest officials, the locals are not able to get the compensation immediately.
The CPI(M) District Secretary, Bhaviri Krishna Murthy, alleged that the government had never seriously concentrated on the problems faced by the tribal people. “More than one lakh people are leading life with fear. But the government had never taken concrete steps to find a permanent solution to the problem,” he said.
