A wild elephant damaged the home of an adivasi family in Kozhikolli village in Puliyampara near Gudalur recently. The adivasi family, who suffered minor injuries in the incident, has appealed to the government to build permanent housing for them to prevent such incidents in the future.
The elephant is said to have damaged at least two houses in the village. In the incident, the roof of the house belonging to Sivasankaran’s family collapsed . He and his eight-month-old grand-daughter Vinithu suffered minor injuries.
The family, along with others, has appealed to the government to build permanent houses for them.
Conservationists working in the landscape said that the village is located near a stream used regularly by elephants as a source of water. Moreover, Puliyampara itself was an important elephant pathway. It was used by elephants moving between Mudumalai, Gudalur, Wayanad and Nilambur, they added. Many of the houses in the area had also been recently built by non-adivasi settlers, blocking elephant pathways, which added to the human-animal interactions, they added.
When contacted, District Forest Officer (Gudalur Division), Kommu Omkaram, said the chances of problematic interactions between humans and elephants in the region was always high due to the presence of the stream near the village.
Mr. Omkaram said the Forest Department would support the demands of adivasis in the village for permanent housing by recommending the same to the government. He also said compensation for the injured families would be given.
Incidents of elephants damaging homes of people living in Gudalur and Pandalur routinely increased during summer when they moved in search of food and water. Conservationists said pressures on elephant pathways in the form of illegal constructions could be exacerbating problematic interactions in Gudalur.
