Dainik Nation News Portal
DAINIK NATION BUREAU
Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu is coming to Uttarakhand to attend the international yoga festival in Rishikesh on March 3 and security officials have been struggling on how to manage wild elephants, which can pose a problem to the VVIP cavalcade.
He is expected to take the road route while returning from Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh to the Jollygrant airport, which crosses via the thick forest area. Similarly, on his arrival, he is expected to take chopper from the airport to the IDPL helipad from where he has to travel to Parmarth Niketan by road.
It has made the task challenging as the region is prone to elephant movement. The stretch between the airport and Rishikesh is particularly vulnerable. It has an elephant corridor midway and the herd of elephants blocking the flow of traffic on this road is a common occurrence. The Badkot corridor attracts a large number of elephants.
while convening review meeting on security preparations for the Vice-President’s visit, Uttarakhand Director General of Police Anil Raturi has given special instructions to ensure adequate safety as the Vice-President’s cavalcade travels along the elephant-prone route. He has directed the SSPs, both from Pauri and Dehradun districts, to take necessary steps. He also asked for effective coordination between the police and the Forest Departments for ensuring remedial measures.
As we know that due to elephant menace on the Jollygrant-Rishikesh stretch, the forest department had to close the road to the traffic movement after sunset till dawn to ensure commuters’safety.
On February 8, a youth was crushed to death by a tusker in the nearby Doiwala forest area. Similarly, on January 19, a killer tusker was captured in Hardwar revealing the quantum of man-elephant conflict in the region.
