Published 14:28 IST, April 2nd 2020
Elephant takes a stroll on Haridwar streets amid coronavirus lockdown; watch
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown, an elephant in Haridwar created panic in the city as it strolled near many ghats.
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A video posted by IFS Officer Susanta Nanda shows an elephant walking near Har Ki Pauri, which is the famous ghat on the banks on the Ganges in Haridwar. According to a local media outlet, the elephant strolled the Upper Road, Palika Bazar, Malviya Ghat, Subhash Ghat and several other ghats.
Elephant surveys it’s lost kingdom at Haridwar 👍🏻
— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) April 2, 2020
It is a regular feature as the town shares its boundary with Rajaji National Park.
Credit in the video. pic.twitter.com/QDcwjznz7s
While the video shows only one elephant, as per reports, there were three elephants in total, who were strolling in the city. One of the three elephants even injured a priest near the Hanuman Ghat, while another elephant was spotted around Bhagat Singh Chowk, Chandracharya Chowk, Jwalapur station. The video shared on Twitter also raised concern among the citizens as a Twitter user asked if something could be done about the situation.
Can't anything be done about it? Can they not get some back or at least have a reconstruction so that they r able to move about more freely and coexist
— BeeQ (@rreyjakku) April 2, 2020
presume its walking in nationa HW rather then state highway of forest road As human we should be shameful venturing into their land.
— kamaleshas 🇮🇳 (@askamalesh_blr) April 2, 2020
While speaking to the local media outlet, DFO Akash Verma said that the elephants were sent to the forest after a lot of hard work. He said that the forest department team reached the spot as soon as possible and chased the elephants throughout the night. He reportedly added the elephants went towards the forest early morning after the teams from the forest department and Rajaji National Park were engaged in chasing the elephants after which the people breathed a sigh of relief.
Coronavirus outbreak
Last month, PM Modi announced a complete 21-day lockdown across the country in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus pandemic. Currently, India has more than 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and the deadly virus has claimed almost 31 lives in the country. Modi has also asked people not to panic and further urged them to stay indoors.
Meanwhile, coronavirus, which originated in China in December 2019, has now claimed over 47,000 lives worldwide as of April 2. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 203 countries and has infected more than 938,000 people. Out of the total infections, 195,371 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries including Spain, and the economy is struggling.
14:28 IST, April 2nd 2020