Forest Department intensifies patrols to prevent elephant intercepting sugarcane lorries in Hasanur

The Forest Department has intensified patrolling and elephant-drive operations along the Hasanur stretch of the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) following frequent incidents of wild elephants intercepting sugarcane-laden lorries on the Dindigul-Mysuru National Highway (NH 948).

Forest staff are driving elephants that are waiting along the road, back into the forest, and monitoring vulnerable stretches, particularly the Karapallam-Hasanur stretch in Tamil Nadu and the Karapallam-Punajanur stretch in Karnataka.

The 27-km stretch of NH 948 between the Bannari and Karapallam forest checkposts passes through the reserve in Tamil Nadu before the highway enters Karnataka. Wild elephants frequently intercept sugarcane-laden lorries on the Karapallam-Hasanur stretch and the Karapallam-Punajanur.

Yogesh Kumar Garg, Deputy Director of STR and District Forest Officer, Hasanur Forest Division, told The Hindu that patrolling has been intensified to prevent elephants from waiting along the road for lorries. “Lorry operators have also been asked to adhere to the restriction on movement between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.,” he said.

Sugarcane cultivated in Thalavadi and Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district is transported by lorries to a private sugar mill in Sathyamangalam. Since the harvesting season began last month, more than 100 lorries pass through the forest area every day.

Elephants have been blocking the carriageway, pulling out sugarcane bundles, and feeding on them. On a recent occasion, six to eight elephants intercepted a lorry near the Punajanur checkpost, leaving the driver helpless, a forest staff member said.

The Forest Department earlier instructed lorry operators to cover the sugarcane loads with tarpaulin sheets. However, elephants have been tearing the covers and pulling out the cane.

Officials said videos of elephants grabbing sugarcane from lorries are circulating widely on social media and are attracting visitors from various parts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Such visitors hamper efforts to drive the elephants back into the forest and can increase the risk of negative human-elephant interaction along the stretch, they warned.