Elephant menace continues in Andhra villages

At least ten people were trampled to death and dozens of houses were destroyed by a herd of rampaging elephants in Andhra Pradesh recently.

Srikakulam (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 22 : At least ten people were trampled to death and dozens of houses were destroyed by a herd of rampaging elephants in Andhra Pradesh recently.

In the latest incident, two persons - Tentu Srinivas Rao, a resident and one reporter G Nagaraje were trampled to death by a herd of wild elephants.

People in the area are scared for their lives and complain about the administration's apathy to the whole situation.

"The elephants are destroying everything in the village. The minister has visited the place, but nothing concrete has been done to end the elephant terror. Villagers are very worried about their safety", said D.Rama Rao, a resident.

However, forest officials are confident that in another three-four days they will drive these elephants back into the Lekhari Sanctuary in Orissa with the help of experts who are arriving from Assam.

"Actually, the Andhra Pradesh Government represented by the forest department is taking action to drive away these elephants towards Lekhari sanctuary which is situated in Orissa across the border in three-four days", said P.V. Padmanabham, Conservator of Forest.

ANI