Wild elephant enters Haridwar railway station, triggers panic
HARIDWAR: At a time when Haridwar is abuzz with Mahakumbh fervour, a wild elephant triggered panic at Haridwar railway station in the wee hours on Thursday.
Luckily at that time, there was no train arrival or departure, said officials.
Some vendors spotted the elephant near the platform 2 who alerted others and railway staff personnel present at the station.
Immediately, railway station control room personnel informed the forest department and Rajaji Tiger Reserve about the elephant.
Para military forces personnel deployed under Kumbh Mela Force also arrived at the station along with state police, government railway police and railway protection force personnel.
“As soon we got information, forest personnel were immediately sent to the railway station. With a joint operation the elephant was shooed away to the nearby forest terrain.
In wake of wild animal’s intrusion incident, in particular by leopard, patrolling teams have been deployed for monitoring the sensitive area of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, Bilkeshwar and adjacent residential areas on the outskirts of forest and city,” said range officer Haridwar forest department, Dinesh Naudiyal.
In wake of the rise in animal intrusion in Kumbh city, Rajaji Tiger Reserve has also deployed additional patrolling personnel during the ongoing Mahakumbh fair in Haridwar.
Range officer Rajaji Tiger Reserve Vijay Saini said that owing to the proximity of forest area with the residential areas like Bilkeshwar colony, railway station area, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited township and Ganga ghat areas near Chila Park Range movement of elephants is being spotted here.
Kumbh Mela additional officer Lalit Narayan Mishra said that departments and authorities concerned have been directed to keep round the clock vigil and routine patrolling of the sensitive areas so that wild animals don’t enter the residential, crowded and Kumbh camp colonies.
Notably, just 10 days back, an elephant had entered the Kumbh Home Guard Lines tent colony at Laljiwala Tapu which triggered panic among the pilgrims, local people and tourists.