Farmers in Alipurduar in north Bengal are worried about elephants just as their paddy ripens, Ei Samay reports. The smell of rice can bring a herd of tuskers into the fields at any moment, so in forest-fringe villages and forest settlements farmers have built "tong ghar", platforms high in the trees beside their fields, and keep watch through the night.
Even so, the crop cannot always be saved. In some places herds eat and trample the paddy within minutes.
Farmers say the forest department, short of staff, cannot patrol properly in the villages next to Jaldapara National Park and the Buxa Tiger Reserve, so after a hard day in the fields they have to guard their crops all night.
They are also angry about compensation. When elephants destroy crops, the forest department's compensation is slow, taking a year in some cases, and the amount rarely matches the loss. They want the government to set up a special scheme for farmers in forest-fringe villages, in the way the agriculture department protects farmers through insurance when crops are lost to natural disasters.
Robi Rava, a farmer in Chilapata, said: "We work hard all year to grow a crop, but just as we are about to bring it home, the herd finishes everything. The forest department's compensation does not cover our losses." Elephants recently ate the paddy on the neighbouring fields of Shilaj Rava and Jogen Rava, he said, and only crop insurance from the government would let farmers live with some peace of mind.
Asked about the issue, Jaldapara's divisional forest officer, Parveen Kaswan, declined to comment and did not reply to messages, Ei Samay said.
Reported by Ayantika Saha, Alipurduar, Ei Samay.
Source: Ei Samay
Comments
(0)