Wild animals wreck havoc on farmland

BERHAMPUR: The elected representatives in Ganjam district have expressed concern over the growing menace of wild animals, particularly wild boar, and demanded immediate remedial steps to save the standing crops.
"The forest officials have failed to check their menace. Instead, they book the farmers if they beat the animals to save their crops," said S Damburu Reddy, a zilla parishad member at a recent meeting.
Many affected people are yet to get compensation, said Nibedita Pradhan, another ZP member."The officials should take prompt action to compensate the affected farmers," added Sudhir Rout, representative of MP (Berhampur).
Forest and environment minister Bikram Keshari Arukh, who is also a member of the ZP, directed the forest officials to keep an eye on the activities of wild animals and deploy more people in the vulnerable areas to minimize the crop loss.