Farmers in Gudiyatham want solution to elephant menace

On most nights, 65-year-old G.M. Rajagopalan and farmers like him spend sleepless nights by the Palamaner Road operating by Kottamitta village in Gudiyatham. They stand guard to chase wild elephant herds that descend from the close by forest and destroy their crops.

This shouldn’t be the case in this village alone. Farmers from 30 hamlets underneath village panchayats akin to Modikuppam, Dhanamkondapalli, Mordhana and Sengundram have been going through the issue due to elephants. Cultivation of mango, bananas, and groundnuts is frequent in these villages. “Sleep deprivation is a major problem as we stand guard at night, but we somehow have to protect our crops. Elephants enter our fields in search of water. During the day time, we chase away monkeys, deer and wild boar that destroy our produce,” mentioned Mr. Rajagopalan.

Repeated requests

The farmers declare that repeated requests to the federal government to resolve the problem haven’t yielded any outcomes. “Hence, a few affluent farmers have installed solar powered electric fences by spending money from their pockets. However, the poor farmers continue to struggle and they continue to face losses. Many of them have sold their land and gone out of the villages,” he mentioned.

One can discover electrical fences operating alongside the Palamaner Road with warning symbols on them. Kamesh Deva, one other farmer from Kottamitta village mentioned that in the night, the facility is switched on. “The elephants which try to enter the field suffer a mild shock after coming in contact with the wire and they avoid entering the zone,” he added.

He claimed that a number of individuals had died after elephants trampled on them.

Forest Department officers mentioned there was a proposal to have photo voltaic ropes to stop the entry of elephants. “We also have elephant proof trenches, but they are not maintained well due to lack of funds,” mentioned an official.