Villagers urge forest dept to check elephant menace

Villagers from Kugur and Chikkara submitted a memorandum to Shanivarasanthe RFO Praful Shetty on the damage to crops by wild elephants.

The villagers said that the straying of wild elephants into coffee plantations and paddy fields has caused extensive damage.

Trenches should be dug on the periphery of the forest to prevent the elephants from straying into the villages. The forest department should also lay solar fence, they said.

Farmers Kuttappa, Komarappa and Nagaraj urged the forest department to revise the compensation amount paid for the loss of crops.