Operation Gajendra from Thursday

About ten days effort to tackle the menace of elephants

Operation Gajendra, aimed at sending back the nine wild pachyderms which have crushed 17 persons to death and damaged nearly 50 acres of crops in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. The operation will be intensified from Thursday at Gora, Peda Gora, Digguvalasa, Egulada, Allapuram, China Polla, Jayapuram to force the herd the forests in Vizianagaram initially.

At a review meeting, the District Collector, VN Vishnu said that the action plan meant to scare away the elephants to their habitat in Lakheri forest area and the entire operation will be completed within ten days. As a precautionary measure, during the operation, the tribals would be evacuated. A 20 member jumbo handling experts and forest officials of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa are participating in the operation in addition to four trained elephants, he added.

The Superintendent of Police, Manish Kumar Singh said that the officers concerned to inform the police of their daily schedule and route programmes to ensure their security and for taking up protection measures. Already, trained elephant Ganesh from Chittoor district and six trackers from Orissa arrived on Wednesday and another two trained elephants are on the way to Srikakulam from Mysore. State Chief Wildlife Warden Hitesh Kumar Malhotra is monitoring the situation.

Encyclopedia Reference: Elephant, Trample, Capture