The forest section comes within the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu and the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.
The forest section comes within the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu and the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.
With incidents of wild elephants stopping and feeding on sugarcane-laden lorries in the forest of Dindigul-Mysuru National Highway 948, the forest department has asked lorry drivers not to stop their vehicles or feed wild elephants in the Talvadi forest section. Said.
Sugarcane harvested in the Talavadi areas is transported in lorries to a private sugar mill located at Alathucombai in Sathyamangalam taluk. The harvesting season has started in the last three weeks and on an average 10 lorries transport sugarcane from Talawadi to the mill every day. From Talvadi, these vehicles have to take the National Highway and cross the Punjanur forest check post in Karnataka and enter Karapallam check post in Tamil Nadu and proceed on the highway to reach Dhimbam and Bannari.
Elephants often cross the highway on the way 4KM from Punajnoor near Karapallam check post under Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve (BRT) in Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka and 6KM from Karapallam check post to Hasnoor under Hasnoor Forest Range come at a distance. Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR).
In the past few weeks, there have been four incidents of elephants stopping lorries and dragging sugarcane on the highway from 3.30 pm to 4 pm in the Punajanoor-Karapallam check post section. This resulted in vehicular movement on the highway, while many road users take selfies and photographs of wild elephants consuming sugarcane without realizing the danger.
Devendra Kumar Meena, District Forest Officer, Hasnoor Division and Deputy Director, STR, said Hindu That the department is coordinating with the BRT officials for necessary action, while they have also deployed teams for patrolling the stretch. “The sugar mill management was asked to alert the lorry drivers not to stop the vehicles on the entire route and not to deliberately feed the animals”, he said and added that the lorries should be driven at different times. was told so that the elephants would stop waiting. road at a particular time.