Control animal intrusion into Thadagam valley: Farmers

Coimbatore: Farmers urged the forest department to take steps to prevent wild animal intrusion into the Thadagam valley as they frequently damage their crops and properties resulting in financial losses, in the monthly farmers’ grievance meeting at the district collector’s office on Friday.“Animals like elephants and wild boars have damaged crops on many occasions in the Thadagam Valley. The compensation received for the damage is paltry and delayed. It takes months for the officials to assess the damage and provide compensation,” said K Kathiravan, a farmer. For instance, only 500 is being given for damage of a coconut tree. “However, planting a coconut sapling costs much more. The compensation should be at least 4,000 per coconut tree.”District collector Kranti Kumar Pati assured that the forest department will take a suitable action.Another petitioner N Subramanian, from Anamalai, urged the state government to increase the procurement price of copra by 20 per kg. The present price of 108 is not sufficient, he said.Farmers from Saliyur and Kembanur urged forest officials to revoke the order to bring the villages under the Coimbatore forest range. They said forest personnel from the Coimbatore range take time to reach the villages in case of animal intrusion and asked them to bring their villages under the Boluvampatti range again.