COIMBATORE: A herd of wild elephants destroyed several acres of banana plantations, coconut trees and vegetable crops in Thadagam area on Thursday. Farmers from Chinna Thadagam, Kanuvai and Thaliyur villages urged the forest department to take measures to control the jumbo intrusion.
According to sources, a herd of five elephants entered farmlands in Koyya Thottam in Thaliyur village in the wee hours of Thursday. “More than two acres of my banana trees and 15 coconut trees were damaged by the animals,” said K Mani, a farmer. R Maragatham (62), another farmer in Thaliyur village said, “On Thursday, around 1 am, a herd of elephants intruded the land. On information, forest officials came to the spot at 2.45 am. Though we have adequate amount of water to irrigate our land, we have left eight acres of our land uncultivated for the last two years due to wild elephant intrusion.”
K Mahalakshmi, women wing secretary of farmers association from Thadagam alleged that the number of wild elephants’ intrusions has increased in last three months. R Arun Singh, Forest Range Officer (Coimbatore) said, “Since it is the migratory season for elephants, the intrusion would increase from September to January. We are on high alert and are monitoring the elephants’ movement.”