Work has begun on digging a 7 km long trench by the Bannari Amman Sugar Mill to prevent wild elephants from entering villages from the forest area of the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve.
The Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve covers an area of 1,432 square kilometers. Wild elephants occasionally enter the villages at night from the Thalavadi hilly region, which borders two states, and damage crops. When villagers try to chase the elephants away, human-animal conflict occurs. There have also been incidents where farmers have lost their lives in elephant attacks while on night watch.
In this context, forest department officials stated that the Bannari Amman Sugar Mill has allocated Rs. 12 lakhs from its Corporate Social Responsibility fund, and work has begun on digging a trench over a total distance of 7 kilometers in villages such as Ramapuram, Neythalapuram, Muthiyanur, and Sikkhalli in the Thalavadi hilly region. It is expected that digging this trench will reduce the instances of wild elephants entering the villages.
