Cuttack (SunstarTV Bureau): On Friday, an elephant was spotted in deep water near Mundali barriage in Cuttack district. The tusker was swept away while crossing Mahanadi River at Athagarh.
Reportedly, few locals first spotted the stranded animal and raised an alarm. Later, fire personnel were called in for rescue operation. A team of forest officials from Chandaka also headed to Mundali to join the rescue operation.
Till noon, the operation was underway with a huge crowd gathered on the bridge to see the stranded elephant.
Sources said a herd of 17 elephants were crossing the river in Athagarh range in wee hours today.
While 10 of them could make it to the other end, seven got swept away. Of them, six made it to safety at Nuasasan village under Athagarh range. However, the lone elephant got detached from the herd and found struggling in deep water at Mundali, nearly 20 km away from where it was swept away.
Rescue personnel put in their best efforts to rescue the pachyderm.
Wildlife expert Jayant Mardaraj Harichandan feared that delay in rescue could risk the elephant’s life.
