The three-day exercise of forest officials ended up successfully on Tuesday night when the elephant herd, which was camping on the Steel City outskirts, was driven out to the Jharkhand jungle and locals heaved a sigh of relief.
Source said though the forest officials took attempts on Monday night to drive away the jumbos from Vedavyas to Jharkhand Jungle, yet the herd moved to Mandiakudar on Sankha river instead of moving towards the Jharkhand jungle. The water level of the river had to be lessened by closing gates of Mandira Dam for the jumbos to cross.
The elephants were then driven away to Usra, the other side of the Sankha river and from there to Jharkand jungle through Dumerjore, Jharbeda and Jaydedega, informed DFO Sanjit Kumar.