Sanguem: Several farmers who attended a meeting called by social worker Mithil Ulhas Dessai at Netravali and Verlem to discuss problems faced by the farming community, said they were facing huge losses due to incidents of wild animals damaging agricultural and horticultural crops and at times even attacking human beings.

 

Social worker Mithil Ulhas Dessai met and interacted with several farmers on the sidelines of a fertilizer distribution program in several parts of Sanguem constituency, wherein it has come to light that farmers are yet to get compensation for animals damaging their crops. Other prominent residents from Sanguem including Chanda Velip, retired teacher Shrikant Verlekar, Madhu Velip and Gajanan Gaonkar were part of the fertilizer distribution and farmers interaction program.

 

While the Goa government has said it is taking measures to adequately compensate the aggrieved families, nothing major seems to have been done till date. There are two independent government departments involved - the agriculture department and the forests department, which processes claims arising from man-animal conflict.

 

Even Minister Ravi Naik had acknowledged the severity of the problem in the Goa Assembly, but little seems to have been done, said Mithil Dessai, expressing the frustration of the farmers.

 

The government, while acknowledging that there is a rise in wild animal sightings and attacks in villages and fields, maintains that it can’t kill animals as there is a central law banning the killing of wild animals. The animals enter inhabited localities including fields in search of food and end up damaging crops.

 

The government offers support under the Shetkari Adhar Nidhi Insurance Scheme to assist farmers facing losses due to crop damage by wild animals but the procedure is cumbersome and famers are not able to provide the requisite evidence on time. The compensation is provided only once a year, depending on the type of crop damaged, but only about 40 per cent of farmers facing crop damage due to animal interference get the compensation. The government also provides support to install fencing around fields, but in most cases, it is ineffective and doesn't deter the animals from entering the fields.

 

In other constituencies too, farmers have suffered significant crop losses due to monkeys and giant squirrels as well as Gaur and wild boar. According to Mithil Ulhas Dessai it is important to preserve the natural habitat of wild animals to prevent man-animal conflict and also ensure the safety and livelihoods of farmers, who are dependent on their fields.

 

For now, the farmers in Sanguem are wondering when they will get help from the government as there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel for them at the moment.