The Capital city had a visitor from the wild, a tusker late Tuesday night, kindling panic among the people. Forest officials and the local police had a sleepless night as they tried to keep the tusker out of populated areas and drive it back into the wild.
According to reports, the pachyderm was first spotted in Dhauli area on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. It triggered panic at Pipili during the day, but reached Dhauli at midnight around 12:30am.
The tusker walked towards Garage Chhak from where it went to Lingaraj Temple area. Later, the tusker again walked towards Sundarpada area.
Over 60 officials of the forest department along with the local police monitored the movement of the tusker and warned people against stepping out of their houses through loudspeakers.
The tusker later crossed Sundarpada railway tracks and moved towards Pokhariput.
Speaking to OTV, a senior forest official said, “We are monitoring the movement of the tusker now. It was in Pipili and has strayed into the city. Efforts are on to drive it back into the wilds.”
Similarly, the ACF said, “The tusker was in Puri and has strayed into the Capital. It passed through Lingaraj Temple and reached Pokhariput area. Efforts are on to drive it towards a natural habitat. We cannot deny the fact that pachyderms have started coming towards the city, but we are helpless.”
The forest officials finally heaved a sigh of relief after the wild animal was tranquilised at Aiginia this morning.
(Reported by Alok Mohanty, OTV)