Elephants damage crops in forested hamlets in AP\'s Palamaner mandal

TIRUPATI: A herd of elephants created a ruckus in Diguva Marumuru village and the surrounding hamlets under Kolamasanpalli panchayat in Palamaner constituency during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.

The herd ravaged banana plantations and other crops across large stretches of land and stormed towards the bustling crowd of locals, who then rushed into fields to drive the animals away.

According to reports, the wild elephant herd was first spotted in a forested village close to Diguva Marumuru during the late hours on Monday.

Villagers said the pachyderms had ventured into Diguva Marumuru in the wee hours on Tuesday, and created a flutter by raiding crops and plantations.

M Venkata Ramana Reddy, a farmer from Diguva Marumuru, said they lived in fear as they were frequently witnessing pachyderms roaming in the human habitations and destroying crops. “Around 20 wild elephants had ventured out from the nearby forest and started raiding crop lands at around 3am. The animals had started eating plantain and other crops and also damaged coconut in my farm. We called the forest guard but no one came to our rescue”, he lamented.

Farmers alleged that elephant presence had become a threat to them as the animals ventured out on a regular basis. They also alleged that forest officials were of no help.

The farmers sought speedy compensation for the crop damage.

Forest officials said they had roped in drum-beaters and trackers and took measures to drive away the wild tuskers back into the forest. They cautioned villagers to only move in groups and assured farmers of all the help to prevent further crop damage.