Man-Animal conflict has turned to be a never ending problem for the residents of Valparai, as incidents of elephant rampaging is increasing every day. Houses, schools, public distribution shops and tea shops have been targeted by these large mammals at regular intervals causing huge property loss for the residents who are mostly daily laborers in tea estates.
The wild elephants which came calling on the wee hours of Thursday, entered the houses of estate workers Vasudevan and Rosy at mid night and rampaged the front door before gaining entry into the house.
However, the estate workers managed to escape through the back door and sought help by the calling coworkers with the help of their mobile phone from their hiding place.
The co-workers who rushed to their rescue with fire torches and drum beats chased away the elephants, which at last made it's way through the forests.
However, the presence of wild elephants in the vicinity of Nallamudi, Kalyanapandal and Jagamudi estates have created panic among the workers who cry for a permanent solution for the issue. "We are forced to live under constant threat. Post sunset, we are unable to move out even to our neighborhood or to any shop nearby. The trumpeting sounds of elephants close to our houses during midnight is highly scaring", said a resident from Nallamudi estate.