Tamil Nadu: Septuagenarian trampled to death by wild elephant in Tiger reserve
Erode (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): A 74-year-old man was trampled to death by a wild elephant in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve here on Tuesday morning, forest officials said.
According to villagers of Diginarai in Thalavady forest range located within Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) here, Mathiya (74) of Geerahalli area, went to a private land on Monday night to carry out his duties as a watchman of the land to prevent the entry of wild animals which would damage the standing crops.
Early today morning, he noticed an adult elephant entering the land, and burst crackers to scare it. However, the tusker retaliated and trampled him to death on the spot, forest officials said.
Hearing the elephant's trumpet and Mathiya's cries, the locals rushed to the spot where they found him motionless with injuries from the trampling.
They immediately contacted the forest officials, who rushed to the spot. Further details are awaited.
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link now fully operational
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway connecting link was opened to vehicular traffic on Saturday noon after a delay caused by the dismantling of inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work, a day after the Pune section became operational.
The 13.3 km-long "missing link", which bypasses a section of the Bhor Ghat stretch of the expressway and cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by 25 to 30 minutes, was inaugurated a day earlier by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the presence of Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
The Pune-bound carriageway of the corridor was opened to traffic immediately; however, the Mumbai-bound section remained closed to traffic for several hours after the inauguration.
An official of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation told PTI on Saturday that the opening of the Mumbai-bound carriageway was delayed mainly due to the dismantling of the inauguration infrastructure and cleaning work.
The removal of the stage and other decorations was completed in the morning. The work to load and transport the material slightly delayed the opening of the carriageway.
Vehicular movement on the carriageway began after all the remaining material was cleared and road cleaning was completed, the official added.
The expressway control room said that despite significant vehicular movement, the access-controlled highway has not witnessed any major traffic snarls since Friday evening, after the Pune-bound carriageway of the missing link was opened to traffic.
The Missing Link project connects Khopoli (in Raigad) on the Mumbai side to Kusgaon near Lonavala in Pune district and is expected to make the expressway fully access-controlled, easing congestion in the ghat section.
Developed by the MSRDC and dubbed an "engineering marvel", the project includes two tunnels, two viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley. It bypasses the steep, accident-prone ghat section, where frequent traffic snarls are reported during weekends and on public holidays.
