Yellapur: The menace of wild elephants has increased in Kiravatti and Madnuru areas in Yellapur taluk from the last one week. Two herds of elephants are being spotted in human habitations in the area and they are destroying paddy, sugarcane and maize fields. This has left the farmers helpless.

While one herd has eight to ten elephants with a calf, the other one is lone tusker, say farmers. “The farmers of this area fear the onset of October as elephant menace increases during every October. Such a trend is being seen for the last 20 years. It is a challenge for the farmers to protect their crops day and night from the elephants. Taking the elephant corridor, they destroy every field that comes their way,” said Vithal Pandrameese, a farmer expressing disappointment.

He said that elephants are straying into the fields in this area as elephant trenches had not been dug. So elephant trenches must be dug here too.

Till now, the elephants have destroyed hundreds of acres agriculture land belonging to farmers Aadamsaab Attar of Alkeri in Kiravatti, Modin Saab Attar and Baby Dondu Panrameese and Kalu Dondu Patil of Madnur Mahadevkoppa. On one hand, heavy rain and flood destroyed cotton and maize crops and on the other, elephant menace is giving sleepless nights to the farmers who were expecting good harvest of the paddy.