Farmers seek cover for crop damage by animals

JAGATSINGHPUR: Residents of several villages in Raghunathpur block in Jagatsinghpur district on Thursday staged a protest in front of the local forest beat house demanding the construction of fences and compensation to farmers whose crops were damaged by animals from Dhartangada forest.

Sources said owing to acute shortage of grass and vegetation in the forest, animals, especially spotted deer, throng the villages in search of food. They feed on paddy crops, green grams and vegetables. The animals have been giving sleepless nights to the residents of around 11 villages. Farmers, who were expecting a bumper yield and availed loans from cooperative societies, are devastated as their standing crops have been damaged by the animals.

Thousands of acres of land at Ramchandrapur, Gopalpur, Salijanga, Deulishai, Erandphal, Kaladhari, Pandara, Pitamabarpur and Puranabasnt villages, situated near the forest, have been destroyed by the animals, mainly the spotted deer. Earlier, the affected villagers had demanded that barbed wire fences be erected to restrict the entry of the animals to agricultural land. No steps have  been taken by the Forest department in this regard, they alleged.

A farmer Nimani Das hailing from Pitambarapur village said the spotted deer have destroyed paddy and green gram, which he had grown on his two acres of land.

Meanwhile, Forest Range Officer Balram Sahoo said the Forest department has given a proposal to the State Government for erection of barbed wire fence but paucity of funds has delayed the project. “The Forest department has disbursed `1.63 lakh to the affected farmers towards compensation for crop damage this year.  The rest will be compensated after their damage is assessed through GPS system”, he added.