Elephant herd damages crops in Chittoor district

HYDERABAD: Paddy fields in Chittoor district were severely damaged after elephant herds from Kaundinya sanctuary and the neighbouring state attacked the fields on Sunday.
Farmers of Rangampet and Nagapatla villages say that they have suffered huge losses as the paddy fields, banana plantations and mango orchards were ravaged. They have said that elephants attacked the fields in the wee hours of Sunday and caused immense losses to the farmers.
According to Mahalakshmi, farmers like her face the issue every year but seldom do they receive compensation from the forest department.“Every year, we face this problem. My two acres of paddy field had been destroyed. We reported the incident to the forest department. Instead of giving us compensation, the officials humiliated us,” Mahalakshmi said.
Another farmer said that elephant herds are giving them sleepless nights. “I suffered a loss of Rs 3 lakh as my fencing and mango trees were damaged by the elephants,” the farmer said.
Forest officials said that elephants from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are also attacking the crops in the western parts of Chittoor district. A similar damage was also reported from Bangarupalem in Chittoor district in January.
“Once the elephant herd comes out of forest, it takes a lot of time to drive them back into the forest. We have reports from Yadamarri mandal as well. We have been paying compensation, whenever we receive such complaints,” said a forest official.