A children park within the Ekamrakanan in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 14: Authorities have restricted the movement of evening walkers inside the Regional Plant Resources Centre (RPRC) because a tusker has been moving in the area over the past four days.

“Evening walkers are usually allowed in here till 6pm, but we are now letting them stay inside the RPRC till 5pm. We have also asked evening walkers not to use the forest trail that goes beyond the park and borders Chandaka Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary,’’ said senior scientist and chief of taxonomy and conservation Pratap Chandra Panda.

The elephant has damaged 132 exotic palm trees inside the park. Most of these trees were imported.

On the first day of its entry into the RPRC on December 10, it extensively damaged a portion of the banana plantations inside the park.

“Electric fencing around the centre with solar energy is in place, but this particular elephant is highly intelligent and is either breaking the portions between two poles that is insulated or felling trees from the Bharatpur side of Chandaka Sanctuary and entering into the RPRC by walking over the felled trees,” said Panda.

Horticulturist at the centre Basanta Mohanty said: “Since last night, we have not noticed any damage and the forest department experts, who came on an inspection, said that the tusker might have returned to the Chandaka sanctuary through the Bharatpur forest.”

In 2010, the RPRC authorities had to issue a public notice as two elephants unleashed a reign of terror on its campus for days.

The residents of IRC Village, Nayapalli, Jayadev Vihar, Ekamra Villa, VIP Colony and Rental Colony frequent the park for morning and evening walks. The park portion of the RPRC is popularly known as Ekamrakanan.

Subhranshu Patnaik, a resident of Jayadev Vihar, said: “The depletion of fodder plants inside the reserve forest is most likely attracting elephants to Ekamrakanan because it is full of banana, palm and other trees.”

Divisional forest officer of Chandaka sanctuary Manoj Mohapatra said: “This tusker getting inside the RPRC has become almost an annual phenomenon. We have received information today that it has returned to the Bharatpur reserve forest. After a day or two, the RPRC authorities will notify it for the public.”

However, Mohapatra said restrictions on the entry of visitors to the RPRC towards the nature trail tracks on the border of the Bharatpur forest of Chandaka sanctuary would remain in force as there might be risks.

“Visitors, mainly young couples, enter the forest trail and its nearby limits and this might prove dangerous,” he said.