Chhattisgarh: Farmers Protest Against Elephant Menace; Demand Increase Compensation

Raipur (Chhattisgarh): Farmers suffering huge loss from intruding of wild jumbos in their farms, block the highway in Amlidih, Raigarh district on Friday and staged a huge protest in support of their demands including hike in compensation for the damaged crop. Farmers complain the compensation provided by the forest department is inadequate to meet the loss they are continuously suffering.

Currently, the government offers a compensation of Rs 9,000 per acre for damaged crops. However, farmers argue that the actual cost to cultivate an acre can reach Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, leaving them at a substantial financial loss. "The compensation is simply not enough," said Ashok Panda, a farmer from Amlidih. "After discussing the issue, farmers from several villages decided to take action due to our increasing hardships."

The protest has disrupted traffic on the Raigad-Gharghoda main road, with heavy vehicles queuing up on both sides. Local police have arrived at the scene to mediate, but the farmers remain steadfast in their demands.

They pressed demand for revision of compensation rates.

The protest, which began at noon, continued up to evening and received vigorous support from the villagers and other rural communities.

Senior level forest and administration officers agreed on the verge of anonymity that it required fresh revision as the agriculture is becoming challenging day-by-day and in the coming days wild animal and human conflict will increase because forest area is dwindling due to mining and other developmental activities.

Notably, for the past 15 days, a group of approximately 45 elephants has been roaming the Gharghoda forest range, causing significant damage to crops at night. Recently, the elephants trampled fields in the Bhalumar and Amlidih Pandripani areas, intensifying concerns among local farmers. Wild Jumbos are continuously damaging the crops in the elephant affected areas, villagers complained. 

However, in this case, as tensions continue escalating, the community seems united in their call for increased compensation.