Elephant sighted at Kadshi in Mopa

Keri: An elephant, separated from a herd in the Maharashtra forest, was sighted at Kadshi hamlet of Mopa, Pernem, on Sunday morning.Sandhya Parab, a local, said while she was washing clothes at the Kadshi nullah, she saw the elephant in the horticulture farm of Dashrath Korgaonkar. “The elephant was standing just a few metres away from me. However, it disappeared in the forest,” she told TOI.Jiss Verghese, the deputy conservator of forests of North Goa, said, “We were informed by the Sindhudurg forest officials that the elephant crossed Netarde and entered Kadshi during the night of Saturday. Our staff is in the area and monitoring the situation.”A rapid rescue team of the Maharashtra forest department has also been deployed at Netarde.However, as the elephant was suspected to have strayed into the no-fly zone for drones of the Manohar International Airport, the rescue team found it difficult to locate the animal, said Suhas Patil, the range forest officer of Dodamarg.Gaurish Pawaskar from Kadshi said the elephant had entered his paddy field on Saturday night. “The animal’s footprints are still there. But no damage has been done,” he said.Sanjay Sawant, an environmentalist from Dodamarg, said the elephant was part of a herd of five, including three calves.