An elephant calf was rescued by the forest department after it was swept away by the flooded Sigurhalla River on Monday morning.
P. Arunkumar, Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone), said that local residents had informed the forest department of the elephant needing help after it got separated from its herd when it was washed away by the river.
Fortunately, the animal managed to make its way onto the banks of the river, before it was found by forest department staff who checked on the health of the calf. Mr. Arunkumar said a search was underway in the surrounding areas by teams of forest department staff to locate the herd from which it got separated. He said that he hoped that the calf can be reunited with its mother.
The incident followed heavy rain in the Nilgiris, with landslips being reported in many places along the Kalhatti Ghat Road connecting the Sigur plateau to Udhagamandalam. According to official sources, around 67 millimeters of rainfall was reported along the Kalhatti slopes till Monday morning, while the district recorded around 18.14 millimeters of average rainfall.
Due to the heavy rains in the Upper Nilgiris, the Sigurhalla and Moyar Rivers were in spate. Due to the increased waterflow, traffic along the Masinagudi to Gudalur road, via Theppakadu, came to a halt as vehicles were unable to cross the flooded rivers.
