In recent days, there has been an increase in the movement of wild elephants around various estate areas surrounding Munnar. This has caused significant anxiety among the workers in these regions. The elephants are roaming around the roads and tea plantations during the day, causing fear among the public and workers, who are now hesitant to go to work or carry out their daily activities.
Specifically, the famous "Padayappa" male elephant has been stationed around the Nayammakkadu Estate East Division for several days. Due to a festival being held at the Kaliamman Temple in the area, workers had set up tents and structures made from banana trees to stay. During the festival, the elephant visited the temple area twice during the night, frightening the workers who were stationed there. The workers stayed vigilant throughout the night and managed to drive the elephant away. Afterward, the elephant left the area and moved to the Kadalar Estate East Division, where it was seen roaming around the workers' residential area at 6:00 AM the following morning.
Additionally, for the past week, wild elephants have been staying around the Devikulam Estate Lower Division. These elephants caused damage to a car that had been parked near the house of a person named Murugan. This added to the fear in the area.
Similarly, in the Kanimala Estate area, a group of four elephants, including two calves, had been roaming around for the past week. In the last few days, after grazing on grass and other vegetation, two of the elephants became tired and lay down on the road to sleep. The other two elephants stayed nearby to guard them.
The backdrop to these incidents is that, due to the ongoing temple festival in the area, workers were traveling to the temple at night with great caution and fear. The increased presence and movement of elephants in these areas have introduced a new level of anxiety among the local residents and workers.
