Kerala: 4 Injured After Elephant Overturns Autorickshaw In Munnar

On Wednesday, the situation escalated when the two elephants got into a fight and one of the tuskers fled to an unfenced waste dumping yard in Munnar.

Four sanitation workers were injured when an elephant fleeing from another tusker accidentally overturned their autorickshaw near Kallar in Munnar, Idukki district on Wednesday. In the impact, one of the sanitation worker sustained serious injuries. The mishap took place when the workers were on their way to the local waste dumping yard.

The two injured have been identified as Azhakama of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar and Sekhar of Nettikudi, as reported by Manorama. The hospital authorities are also mulling on transferring Azhakamma to Kottayam Medical College for additional medical attention. 

According to forest officials, two elephants had been spotted in the area since Tuesday, as per a report on PTI. The man-animal conflicts are a frequent occuring in Munnar with some of them previously losing their life to animal attacks. Against this backdrop, on Wednesday, the situation escalated when the two elephants got into a fight. 

"Two elephants were present in the area since Tuesday and we had conveyed this information. The elephants got into a fight with each other and after that, one of them fled from there. While fleeing, it accidentally turned over the autorickshaw the sanitation workers were travelling in," a forest official said, as per the report.

A forest official provided further details, stating that one of the injured, Azhakama, sustained a serious leg fracture, while the others escaped with minor injuries. The elephants were later chased back into the forest. 

The waste yard where the workers were traveling often attracts wild animals in search of food since it remains unfenced.

The forest department has repeatedly requested the local panchayat to fence the dumping yard to prevent such encounters, but no action has been taken so far, officials added. The incident has once again raised concerns over human-animal conflicts in the region, particularly in areas where waste yards attract wild animals.

After the incident, Congress workers organised a road blockade at Munnar Central junction demanding to remove the tusker from the place near the waste management site.