Different herds of wild elephants from Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, and from the bordering forests of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, are raiding the standing crops of paddy at the villages of Bangarupalem and Yadamarri in western parts of Chittoor district for the past couple of days, giving sleepless nights to the farmers.
According to information, a 14-member herd was spotted along the forest fringe villages of Bangarupalem mandal a couple of days ago. The same herd has reportedly split into groups and is wreaking havoc in the fields in half a dozen hamlets abutting Bodabandla area. Similarly, farmers complained that a separate herd of two elephants - sub-adults - was giving them a harrowing time, lingering in the crops through the night, and retreating into the thickets at dawn. Their efforts to scare them away had failed.
Fog cover
Farmers at Bodabandla said the elephants are coming in large numbers after a hiatus of a couple of years and are raiding their crops. With fog engulfing the fields and forests, the farmers are finding it difficult to sight the animals both at dawn and dusk, making their night vigils in the fields risky. “We are not sure if the crop raiding elephants are from the Koundinya Sanctuary, or from the forests of the neighboring states,” the farmers said.
Moreover, it is learnt that once a herd strays from its habitat and moves into the fields, it would be a big challenge for the forest officials to drive them back. Sometimes, the operation takes weeks. Farmers suffer huge crop losses in the meantime.
At Yadamarri mandal, several farmers are in the grip of fear with wild elephants trampling their fields. Generally, the mandal would be safer from the crop raiding animals, since such instances were reported sporadically. However, this year, repeated sighting of the pachyderms have put them in a fix.
Efforts in vain
From January, the agriculture activity would pick up with lush, standing paddy and sugar cane crops. The wild elephants are known for their liking for paddy and sugarcane. Though forest officials had repeatedly sought the farmers to go in for alternative crops, the latter chose to ignore the same as they maintain that technically and economically, it would not be possible.
Forest personnel’s efforts to track the prowling elephants and drive them back into the thickets took a break with the ongoing Sankranti festival mood.
