Mangaluru : Villagers of Singanur, Nandikadu Parla-Makki in Belthangady taluk bordering Chikkamagaluru district are an angry lot. A herd of elephants has been troubling them for the past one week and the forest department has done little to tackle the problem, claim villagers.

On Monday night, a tusker and a herd went berserk and damaged banana, areca and paddy fields within a 15-km radius. More than 300-400 areca and banana plants were destroyed and in some places paddy fields too were completely damaged. The estimated loss is expected to run in to several lakhs of rupees, say villagers.

Using crackers and fire to chase away the elephants did not work but only increased the damage, a villager rued. “The jumbo menace has spread to over a 15-km radius in Didupe limits. If government sets up a camp every 5km, it would save crops worth lakhs. We have been living with this problem for the last two years and nothing has been done,” said angry villagers.

As many as 50 arecanut trees belonging to Vasanthi were uprooted, Ramanna’s naga bana damaged and Sanjeeva’s banana plantation become fodder for the elephants. Apart from it, in Addatodi a water pipeline too was damaged. Villagers say a lone tusker has been spotted wandering during day time on the Charmadi Ghat stretch.

Manjunath, range forest office, Belthangady, said that they have not received any complaints from villagers. “We will take action if villagers request us,” he said.

According to forest officials, in 2018-19, 16 applications were received and 15 persons were compensated with Rs 1.90 lakh for crop damages. In 2019-20, so far 11 applications were received and 5 people were given Rs 77,000 in total.