A herd of six wild elephants damaged the upper primary school building meant for students belonging to the tribal community at Edamalayar near Kothamangalam on the night of Monday, March 28. As per the school headmistress TA Shameena, the herd entered the school premises around 2 am and damaged the doors and windows of the building, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
Giving more details, Thundathil forest range officer CV Vinod Kumar said that the school authorities had stored jaggery and rice in the store room and the smell of jaggery attracted the elephants. Further headmistress briefed saying, “The herd damaged the doors and windows of the building and destroyed the doors of the toilet complex. The water tank and pipeline have also been destroyed. The records kept in the office room were found scattered around the compound when we arrived in the morning."
"The loss is estimated to be Rs 3 lakh and the forest department has assured to compensate. The elephants entered the compound as the power fencing was damaged. The annual examination was held in another building in the afternoon,” the headmistress added.
Status of the hostel
Though a hostel for tribal students is located on the premises, it has been occupied by families from Arayakappu tribal colony since July 2021. There are 30 students and 10 staffers including teachers at the Edamalayar UPS.
Sharing details on this, the headmistress said, “As the tribal hostel is not functioning, the ST department has engaged two jeeps to bring students from Ponginchuvadu and Thalukandam tribal colonies. Many students were shifted to other tribal schools as the hostel is not functioning. It will be difficult to get new admissions if the tribal hostel is not opened."