COIMBATORE: A tusker entered farmland and damaged 10 acres of maize field at Dhaliyur near Chinna Thadgam on Sunday.
The elephant entered the land leased to K Mayilsamy at around 9.15 pm on Sunday and consumed the crop. After spending half an hour chewing on its food, the animal left for the nearby Ponnuthu Amman temple forest.
"I have spent Rs 45,000 for cultivating maize on a farmland spanning ten acres. Soon after the animal came to the field and started damaging crops, my neighbours burst crackers and shouted.
But the elephant refused to move. This is not the first visit by the tusker either. We have stopped approaching the forest department, since the compensation provided for crop loss is very little," said Mayilsamy.
The animal had entered Mayilsamy's farm only after visiting a farm owned by C Nagaraj, located nearby.
"Sunday's incident is the third time the animal had entered into Mayilsamy's farmland. We are totally surprised with the behaviour of the tusker. It drank water from a barrel and did not damage my house, vehicle or my 1.5-acre field. It spent half an hour at my place and entered the nearby field," said 63-year-old C Nagaraj.
Nagaraj's son had captured the incident using his mobile phone and shared it on social media.
Apart from the lone tusker, a herd of five elephants are also visiting the area frequently, said the villagers.
R Manokaran, who is with the Tamil Nadu Farmers Association said that he stopped cultivating crops in his three-acre land in Kalaiyanur two years ago because Chinnathambi and Vinayagam elephants were frequently damaging crops.
He added that a few days ago, an elephant herd damaged haystack from his field.