Fear gripped Moolrahalli, Addagudde, Kogile, and Chegu villages after an elephant trampled a farmer to death, in Mudigere taluk a week ago.
All the farming activities have come to a standstill in the villages following the incident.
The elephant had attacked the villager Sunil and two others while they were guarding paddy fields, thus killing Sunil on the spot. The labourers have not entered the paddy fields and coffee estates for the last one week fearing an attack by the elephants. The villagers are not even moving around alone. Even the dogs barking at night, worries the villagers of the elephants.
Fearing that elephants will reach near the houses in search of banana, the residents have felled all the plantain plants in and around the houses. The forest officials who are on beat in the villages burn firecrackers to scare the elephants. Unfortunately, the elephants no longer get scared by the firecrackers, said the villagers.
Taluk Growers Association President Balakrishna Balooru said, “The wild elephant menace is on a rise in the taluk. The farmers are not able to save the standing paddy crops. How will the farmers eke out their living if the crops are destroyed by the elephants. The government should consider the elephant menace seriously and initiate measures to translocate the elephants,” he demanded.