Residents of Neithalapuram village near Thalavadi on Friday drove a lone elephant, which had entered the village, back to the forest.Elephants are increasingly coming out of their habitat in search of food and water owing to the dry conditions prevailing in the forest. Incidents of elephants entering villages, damaging crops and obstructing vehicles on forest roads have become frequent.On Friday, an elephant strayed out of the dense forest and entered the village, moving around the outskirts. Before it could damage crops, however, villagers joined hands to drive it away. They raised loud noises and used vehicles to scare the animal off.Alarmed by the commotion, the elephant began to retreat, and the villagers, who continued to make noise, followed it. After the elephant entered a nearby forest area, the residents returned. Published - June 19, 2026 08:41 pm IST