Wild jumbos seen in G’chiroli forest

Chandrapur: The forest department has launched an intense search operation in the forests of Belgaon range in Gadchiroli to trace the pair of elephants that have migrated from Chhattisgarh.
People in the area are terrified of the elephants after one of them attacked and injured a forest personnel on Tuesday. It is the first instance in which wild elephants entered the Gadchiroli forest.
The migrant elephants were first sighted by a local shepherd in the forests of Kochinara in Korchi tehsil of Gadchiroli on Tuesday afternoon. As the news spread, a large crowd gathered on the spot to watch the elephants. On getting information, a team of foresters from Belgaon forest range reached the spot. The place was just one and a half kilometre from Kochinar village.
While the forest personnel were trying to disperse the crowd, forest guard Vijay Chimalwar went close to the elephant. The irked elephant pushed Chimalwar with its trunk and he suffered multiple fractures. The forest guard was rushed to Korchi rural hospital and was later shifted to the Gadchiroli Civil Hospital for treatment.
DFO of Wadsa forest division Niranjan Vivrekar said the elephants apparently migrated from the forests of neighbouring Chhattisgarh. He, however, denied the possibility of elephants coming in search of water and maintained that the place from where they came has ample water.
"They crossed the chowki area on the Chhattisgarh side on of state border where there is a dam having ample water. Hence chances of their migration in search of water is poor,” he said.
The officer claimed that they have issued a warning in the surrounding villages to be vigilant about the two elephants moving around in the forest. “We have held public meetings in many villages and have made announcement at other places to warn people against the elephants in the area. Four teams of foresters have been deployed to track the elephants,” he said.
Vivrekar, who was also involved in the search operation, said that around 20 forest personnel and over half a dozen officers are involved in the intense search operation. The locations having water are being searched first to locate the jumbos.
When asked whether the two elephants are a male-female pair, Vivrekar claimed ignorance and maintained that it could be verified only after they are tracked.
He claimed that once the elephants are tracked, they are going to monitor their movement and based on the outcome, a decision would be taken at the earliest.