Wild tusker Padayappa disrupts traffic in Munnar The Hindu March 17, 2023 See link <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/wild-tusker-padayappa-disrupts-traffic-in-munnar/article66631808.ece> for photo. A wild tusker, locally called Padayappa, disrupted traffic near Neymakkad, in Munnar on Thursday night. According to officials, Padayappa blocked the traffic for around 30 minutes at Neymakkad on the Munnar-Udumalpet National Highway around 10 p.m. Forest department officials said that the tusker arrived on the road in search of food. The tusker approached vehicles on the road but did not attack them. Later, it returned to the forest. This is the third time the tusker disrupted the traffic on the Munnar- Udumalpet route near Neymakkad within a gap of 10 days. On March 7, Padayappa blocked a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus and broke its windscreen near Neymakkad in Munnar. On March 5 night, Padayappa blocked another KSRTC super-fast bus at Neymakkad estate, near Munnar, and broke its side-view mirror. “Normally wild elephants turn violent but Padayappa was calm and quiet and never attacked anyone,” said a Forest department source. For the past several months the tusker has been an active presence in and around Munnar. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/wild-tusker-padayappa-disrupts-traffic-in-munnar/article66631808.ece