Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (MS)

Beltangady, Dec 3: Lone tusker entered farm lands at Bare, Kuntadi and Kukkaje of Thotattadi village under Charmadi gram panchayat on the night of Thursday and destroyed arecanut, coconut and plantain crops.

The locals tried to shoo away the pachyderm. Three days ago some elephants had destroyed crop in the same area. Thotattadi area was in news in recent days for usage of satellite phone before the cooker bomb blast in Mangaluru. Police had surveyed the area extensively. The officers had seen some signs of wild elephants during their combing operation.

The locals expressed rage and said that the forest department is not taking proper action to prevent the elephants from entering farm lands. They also accused the department of not supplying fire crackers in required quantity.

The locals also urged the administration to dig trenches in areas where elephants roam around and bring them under control. Grant for the same is already released by the government, but the administration has still not begun the work.