Jumbo scare in Haridwar, experts say stay indoors

The residential colonies of Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) are under a gnawing fear of elephants. Two people were killed last week, while on Tuesday night, an elephant grabbed a factory worker, Ajeet Singh (40) with its trunk and crushed him to death near BHEL square.

Singh was employed at a factory in Kadacch,Jwalapur and was attacked by an elephhant on his way back home.

In another incident on Saturday evening, Chander, a 50-year-old resident of Tibdi, was killed by an elephant inside RTR, when he had gone to collect woods with his friend.

Last Tuesday, a Jwalapur resident, Manjur, was injured by an elephant near BHEL-Foundry gate, when he was picking dry woods for domestic use.

On Monday, another man, Rajnikant Shukla incurred injuries when an elephant tried to intimidate him near BHEL sector 1.

Warden Komal Singh said that as precautionary measures, two joint teams, Haridwar forest division and RTR, have been deployed for patrolling at BHEL and Roshanabad, two residential habitats most vulnerable to elephant intrusion.

Forest officials have urged people to immediately inform forest employees in case they see any elephant in their residential areas.

According to Ritesh Joshi, researcher on Asian elephants in RTR, people should refrain from visiting the outskirts of RTR and forest terrains in the morning, when the visibility is low.

He also suggested the use of fire-crackers to shoo away the animal.

“Elephants revisit spots where they find food items like sugarcane. They have also been spotted more in places where they have had confrontations with elephants. So people need to be more alert,” Joshi said.