Take steps to control straying of wild animals, urge farmers

Coimbatore: Farmers put forth a slew of demands at the grievances redress meeting organised by the forest department in the city on Tuesday.
P R Sundarasamy, a farmer from Thondamuthur, sought the forest department to take steps to control the wild animal menace.
“The officials told us they do not have enough funds to set up concrete structures to prevent raiding of agricultural fields by wild elephants.The Union and state governments have been observing this year as the ‘Millet’ year. But the farmers in Coimbatore are unable to cultivate millets due to wild animals raiding agricultural fields,” Sundarasamy said.
A farmer said he lost crops as wild animals damaged his crops.
M Mahalakshmi, a farmer from Kalaiyanur, said the forest department should use new technology, including drones, along the forest boundaries to track the movements of wild animals and prevent them in advance before they enter the farming land or residential areas.
District forest officer N Jayaraj said the government would release Rs 1.6 crore as compensation for crop damage caused by wild animals in the Coimbatore forest division. The amount will be disbursed to the farmers soon.