Wild elephant breaks electric pole near Coimbatore, damages crops

A lone male elephant that strayed into Kempanur village near Thondamuthur near Coimbatore on Saturday night broke an electric pole and also caused damages to various agricultural crops in the village.

Forest Department officials said that a tusker entered agricultural fields at Kembanur late on Saturday. The elephant damaged a few young coconut trees in the farm of V.R. Chinnasamy.

Officials said the animal pushed an electric pole while moving to another field. The pole broke and collapsed. Though the electric lines dropped due to the broken pole, the elephant escaped unhurt.

The same elephant caused damages in a one-acre tomato farm in the same locality, before being chased away by the frontline staff of the Forest Department.

“The power supply was cut automatically after the electric pole collapsed and live lines came into contact with each other. The night patrol team rushed to the spot immediately and drove out the elephant,” said T. Suseendranath, Forest Range Officer, Boluvampatti range.

The frontline staff were also monitoring another lone tusker that has been causing damages at Poondi at Vellingiri foothills.

Published - November 17, 2024 08:44 pm IST