Dhenkanal: To prevent destruction of crops by elephants and wild boars, farmers in many parts of this district have demanded that more numbers of high-tech ‘Airabat’ vehicles be pressed into service. Elephants routinely destroy crops every year in the district. To add to this, there is now the wild boar menace. With just one Airavat vehicle at its disposal it is difficult for the Forest department to tackle the double menace. Farmers are indeed a worried lot with paddy harvesting season on the anvil. But then what is an Airbat vehicle. It emits a shrill siren-like sound and red light scaring away wild animals. Sources said that agriculture is the mainstay of economy in Dhenkanal district. Paddy and other crops have been raised in over 1.85 lakh hectare in the current khariff season.
However, elephants and boars from April to August, have damaged crops spread over 350 acres. Sources added that if the extent of damage in September and October is assessed, the figure will double. In the 2021-22 fiscal, the animals had destroyed crops spread over 13,654 hectare of land. Other than Airbats, the Forest department has implemented a slew of measures. Solar and bee fencings have been put in place in many areas, but haven’t yielded the desired result. Farmers said that for the last few years, boars have been increasingly damaging crops. Farmers residing close to the Mohabirod range is the worst affected by elephant rampage.
Two years ago, the Forest department had pressed into service an Airabat vehicle to prevent elephants from coming into human habitations. However, farmers opined that a single vehicle is not enough to tackle the problem. Other modern methods were also taken and elephant squads pressed into service.
However, elephants continue to destroy crops. Initially, farmers were happy with the success of the Airabat vehicle. Now, they want more as elephant attacks are not limited to a single zone only. Balabhadra Samal, sarpanch of Belatikiri panchayat, said that farmers are worried over the growing jumbo menace. Gopal Sendha, a farmer of Belatikiri informed that for the last five months they have been spending sleepless nights on trees to drive away the elephants.
Another farmer pointed out that he has applied for compensation after elephants and boars destroyed crops on over 1.7 acre of land. DFO Prakashchand Gogineni also expressed apprehensions as to how one Airabat vehicle the marauding herds of elephants in different parts of the district. He informed that Airavat is deployed in the most affected areas while elephant squads are the only measure in other areas of the district.
