Gadchiroli April 6 (District Correspondent) A herd of wild elephants that have been roaming in Gadchiroli district, are presently camping in the forests around Suryadongri, Akapur, and Injewari villages in Armori taluka for more than two weeks have caused severe loss of crops in these villages.
They come out of the forests at night and enter the fields near the villages and are destroying the crops. Learning about this, former MP Dr. Ashok Nete visited these villages once again on Saturday and inspected the fields. Since it was not possible for a four-wheeler to pass in some places, he rode a two-wheeler from the village and reached the fields and inspected them firsthand and learned about the suffering of the citizens.
During this visit, the farmers narrated the accounts of the cultivation cost, the income received and the small amount of assistance received from the government as compensation. On this, Dr. Nete assured the farmers that he would demand a doubling of the amount from the Chief Minister and Guardian Minister of the district, Devendra Fadnavis.
According to the information given by the farmers, there are about 32 elephants in the herd of elephants. They enter the fields after dark at night. These elephants destroy the maize crop, which is in large quantities, including summer paddy. Since they enter the fields in separate small herds, the forest department’s machinery and the Hulla team are having a hard time controlling them.
Dr. Nete was accompanied by BJP Secretary Sadanand Kuthe, Adv. Chate, Police Patil Vilas Meshram, Vikas Paydalwar, farmers -Ramchandra Bhoyar, Dhurandhar Satpute, Govardhan Bhoyar, Mahesh Bambole, farmers of the surrounding villages, farmers and labourers.
During this tour, Dr. Nete inspected the damage in all the villages. In some areas, it was not possible to go to the fields by car. Therefore, in the heat of the day, he asked for a bike from the village and rode on it and turned the bike towards the fields. From there, he went on foot to inspect the crops in the fields and interacted with the farmers. In some places, the water pipeline had also been broken by the elephants.
I will raise the issue at the senior level to increase the compensation amount for this damage, Nete promised and instructed the forest department officials to conduct the Panchnama.
During this tour, some farmers expressed their displeasure with the Hulla team of the forest department, which was appointed to monitor the movements of elephants and warn the citizens. The villagers complained that the members of this team stay awake for a short time at night and then go to the village school to sleep. When some villagers informed the forest authorities about this, they showed inability, saying that they have no control over the team. Therefore, it is necessary for the forest department officials to pay serious attention to this problem, demanded the farmers.
