Athirappilly: Owners of several eateries and groceries at Malakkappara in Vazhachal forest division have come up with an ingenious way to address frequent intrusion of wild elephants to human settlements.
Many such establishments now sport trellis-like structures of barbed wire to keep marauding wild elephants at bay.
The shopkeepers hit upon the ingenious method after elephants, under the cover of darkness, made a sumptuous meal of wheat, snacks and even maida (refined wheat flour) dough for making porattas kept in the establishments.
If the gentle giants can't reach the desired item with their trunks, they often resort to a not-so-gentle way of demolishing a part of the wall to make good with the food, shopkeepers said.
They added that the elephants have developed a special liking to ration rice, distributed through the State's public distribution system. Tribesmen, who purchase the ration, often leave the rice and other items in the shops for safekeeping since they cannot carry them all together to their hamlets. Elephants raid the shops and make good with the ration.
The barbed wires, shopkeepers said, will 'pinch' the trunks, and keep the elephants away.
The trellis was first put up by Kunhimohammed, whose restaurant at Roppamattam was targeted multiple times. Seeing the effectiveness of barbed wires, Murugan, who has a shop near the police station, too, set up the lattice work with barbed wires.
Local residents said the residence-cum-shop of a merchant, Srini, at Cochin Road Junction was attacked by a herd of seven elephants six months ago. Ganapathy, who has an eatery at the Malakkappara border, found the maida dough he had prepared the previous night for making poratta missing. His neighbours, Bhairavan, Arumughan, Saravanan and Siddique, too, have several tales of losses to tell.
Resorts, located along elephant trails, too, are now setting up barbed wire fences to keep the wild elephants away.
Malakkappara is close to the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border and is located in the forested eastern fringes of Thrissur district.
