Uttarakhand: Tusker entered Haridwar district court
Haridwar (Uttarakhand): Though he did not have any case in the court, an elephant entered the Haridwar district court complex on Wednesday by breaking the main gate and creating chaos. The elephant crossed the Rajaji Tiger Reserve (RTR) border and entered the premises of the District Collectorate in Roshanabad, from where it moved towards the district court.
A video of the incident is being widely circulated on social media, in which some people are shouting for the elephant to go away. To stop such infiltration, teams of forest guards have now been deployed by RTR and Haridwar Forest Division. DFO Neeraj Sharma told reporters, “This is the first time that an elephant has entered the court premises.
The court building and the District Collector’s office are close to the Haridwar range of the RTR. The main gate of the court was partially damaged as the elephant hit the gate to open it. The RTR administration is now installing solar fencing and repairing the damaged wall from where wild elephants often enter. We have also deployed forest guards to drive away the elephants. Incidents of elephants wandering into human habitations are on the rise in Haridwar district and the number has increased significantly in the last few weeks.
According to forest sources, 35 such incidents have been recorded last month in which elephants crossed the RTR border and reached residential areas. “Most of the infiltration incidents took place in Kankhal, Pathri and Bhogpur areas. This area is an old migration route for elephants where residential settlements have now developed. Residential areas of SIDCUL and BHEL are also unsafe. We have deployed forest guards to prevent any untoward incident,” the DFO said.
