COIMBATORE: In the villages bordering Coimbatore forest division, wild elephant attacks and lack of adequate water are the most pressing issues.
Farmers said that they spend sleepless nights to protect their crops from getting trampled by wild elephants and wild boars which trespass the village on a daily basis. Areas such as Kalaiyanur, Somayanur, etc, in Thadagam Valley, Narasipuram in Boluvampatti, and Lingapuram near Sirumugai face the major brunt.
The absence of a proper system to prevent wild animals from intruding into the farmlands has added to their woes. Their final hopes were pinned on the state permitting culling of wild boars as a last resort, However, even that was dashed as the execution kept getting delayed, with human-animal conflicts still at large across the district.
“There is no scientific study into why the elephants are trespassing into the villages. Officials should think of a permanent solution to address the issue,” said a farmer.
Another raking issue is the contamination of groundwater as it gets mixed with sewage. Despite the district receiving heavy rains, the water has gone to waste.
Vanitha Mohan, managing trustee of Siruthuli said, “The state government should allocate more funds to prevent the mixing of sewage water into lakes and other water bodies as the groundwater gets polluted drastically. The check dams maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD) can be desilted to store more rainwater since the district is receiving abundant rainwater during the ongoing northeast monsoon.”