Herd of wild tuskers ruins crops in Anekal; Forest dept turns blind eye

BENGALURU: After the leopard scare, places around Anekal on the outskirts of the city are having to deal with the tusker menace. A herd of more than 10 wild tuskers rampaged on farm lands and destroyed standing crops, leaving farmers distressed.

The farmers from Chikkahosahalli, Thammanayakanahalli, Karakalaghatta, Thelagarahalli have sown peanuts, millets and beans and were hoping to get good returns for their produce which was ready for harvest in the next few days. Now, they are spending sleepless night due to the marauding elephants.

The villagers claimed that the Forest officials have done nothing to control the wild animals from destroying their crops. They are also not getting compensation for the crop loss, they rued.

The farmers say they have been complaining to the Forest Department every day, but the officials have turned a blind eye. They had also demanded that the department hire more forest watchers, but to no avail.

Gowramma claimed that none of the Forest officials are bothering about the elephant menace.

Gowramma, a farmer said, “We had cultivated peanuts and beans in one acre of land, but the elephants destroyed everything. They used to attack the farmlands once in a while, but of late, they are raiding the fields frequently. More than 10 elephants came at night from the direction of Thammanayakanahalli and destroyed all the crops”.

She claimed that the Forest Department has not taken any action to curb the elephant menace”.

Jayamma said they were about to harvest the crop in two days, but elephants destroyed all the standing crop.

Jayamma, another resident of the village, said, “We had got good good yield this year and we were about to harvest it in two days. The elephants have destroyed everything and ruined all our efforts. We are poor, what can we do?”