Construction workers on Bharathiyar University campus in Coimbatore warned of elephant movement

A day after a wild elephant attacked a migrant worker on Bharathiar University campus near Coimbatore, the Forest Department on Tuesday conducted an awareness session for people engaged in various construction works on the campus.

District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj directed the staff to conduct an awareness session for the workers, who are hailing from other States and different parts of Tamil Nadu. As many of the workers are not familiar with the terrain of the university campus, which is spread across elephant movement areas of the Marudhamalai foothills, they were educated about the presence of pachyderms.

On Monday, a worker hailing from Bihar, Manoj Shah (42), was trampled by a tusker when he, along with a few other workers, went to the bushes close to forest to attend nature’s call. Forest officials said that the workers went to the place to ease themselves in the early morning, even though toilets were available at the workers’ quarters. Mr. Shah was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore where he is undergoing treatment. “All the workers have been educated about the movement of elephants through the foothills. They have been asked not to go close to the forest or venture out at night,” said Coimbatore forest range officer R. Arun Kumar.