Visakhapatnam: Husband-wife duo keep jumbos away

VISAKHAPATNAM: Herding elephants and keeping them away from human-animal conflict is no mean task. However, a husband-wife duo — M Muralikrishna and A Prema — both 2013 batch forest officers, keep the elephants at bay albeit with cheer. They have also endeared themselves to the villagers of Bittarapadu, Nimmallapadu and Bhattabhadra, which face the brunt of the elephant herd.
One of the most important functions of the duo is people management.Talking to TOI, Muralikrishna said, “All that we can do about the elephants is to track them with the help of 12 trained and experienced trackers, so that they stay away from harm and also do not cause harm.”
Prema added, “The fact that we are a husband-wife team with a young child has ensured a lot of goodwill from the villagers. They understand the difficulty of our task and cooperate.”
What makes the duo even more endearing to the farmers is the presence of their kid, Shakti. “We have for the last one year been patient with the elephants and the chief reason is this wonderful family. Muralikrishna can calm even the most frayed of nerves and Prema, who heads the elephant monitoring cell, tirelessly ensures that we are safe. Their one-year-old boy also does his bit to keep our spirits up,” said Boni Naidu, one of the residents of Bhattabhadra.
The duo hail from two extreme corners of the state — Puttur in Chittor district bordering Tamil Nadu and Palasa in Srikakulam bordering Odisha.
G Lakshman Rao, DFO, Vizianagaram, said, “They coordinate well. While she runs the elephant monitoring unit, he manages the entire range. Dealing with people and coordinating with other department apart from monitoring the elephants is no mean task.”