Kodagu villagers live on treetops to guard farmlands from jumbos

MADIKERI: The farmers residing in five villages bordered across Harangi Reservoir spend sleepless nights inside huts built atop trees. These tree-top huts have been raised by farmers to keep an eye on the wild elephant movement.
The villages of Huduguru, Mavinahalla, Kalidevarahosu, Madalapura and Hiraholalu are haunted by wild elephants that are causing immense damage to the cultivated paddy farmlands.The solar fences installed by farmers have outdone by the elephants that are feasting on the paddy yield.
“The five villages have nearly 800 acres of farmland and most of them have been cultivated for paddy. However, when the paddy is due for harvest, the yield is damaged by the increased movement of wild elephants,” said Ravi, a farmer and Huduguru gram panchayat member. He added that the solar fences that were installed by 10 farmers across 50 acres in Huduguru were damaged after elephants uprooted tree branches on the fences.
Uthaiah, another farmer, had invested Rs 2.5 lakh to install solar fencing across his farmland. But the fence was also damaged by elephants.
With no other remedy in place, the farmers have now built huts on tree tops and spend the nights in them watching over their farmlands. “These tree houses are built near elephant entry points. When we spot any elephants, we flash lights and sometimes burst crackers to scare them away,” said Ravi.
The farmers said the elephants frequently enter the village limits after quenching their thirst at the Cauvery River near Harangi Reservoir. While the forest department is now installing tentacle solar fencing along a 7-km stretch in these affected areas, the farmers doubt this will put an end to the increasing elephant menace.
p3elephanthouse - The treetop huts that line farmlands across Harangi Reservoir limits