Goa govt to compensate farmers for crop damage by elephant

Panaji, Sep 22 (PTI) The Goa Agriculture Department will compensate farmers for their losses as elephant 'Omkar', which has strayed in a border village from neighbouring Maharashtra, caused damage to crops, an official said on Monday.

The 10-year-old jumbo has been venturing into some villages of Pernem taluka in Goa for the last one week. The elephant is currently in Tamboxem village, where it has been foraging on the farm produce like bananas, and has also damaged the paddy fields.

Local farmers have been asking for the immediate removal of the tusker from the village to avoid further damage.

They claimed the elephant appears in the fields for some time before disappearing in the thick grass grown around the village fields.

State Agriculture Director Sandeep Foldessai told PTI that the department will assess the damage caused to the crops by the elephant.

"We will compensate the farmers based on the damage caused to them. The compensation will be released as soon as possible," he said.

The survey of the damage can take place only after the elephant has been rescued from the spot, Foldessai said, adding his department was monitoring the situation in Tamboxem village.

During a meeting with senior state forest department officials, including Conservator of Forest Navin Kumar, the villagers expressed apprehension about getting the compensation.

Local farmer and former village deputy sarpanch Madhusudhan Samant has told Kumar that the forest department should inform the agriculture authorities about the actual damage caused by the elephant to the crops.

Kumar has assured the farmers that they would be adequately compensated, as the forest department has a representation on the committee that decides the claim in such circumstances. PTI RPS GK