SANGUEM: Farmers in Verlem, Sanguem are facing severe challenges as wild animals, including wild boars, peacocks, and bison, continue to devastate their paddy fields. Despite consistently reporting the damage done by animals to the agriculture department and submitting applications for compensation, farmers have not received any compensation for losses suffered in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Farmer Gajanan Gaonkar from Verlem said, " Once we plant the crop, the bisons come and destroy it. Seven to eight years back i used to grow paddy. The crop came up nicely, but the bisons came and ate the entire crop from the root. Although the Agriculture Department asked us to fill forms for compensation, till today we have not got any compensation."
Chandrakant gaonkar, another farmer from Verlem narrated how their plea to the government to put up fencing has fallen on deaf ears. "My grandfather and father used to cultivate paddy here for decades. At that time most of the villagers were doing farming. But now people have stopped cultivating the fields. The population of bisons and wild boars has increased. They just dont allow us to cultivate our fields. I applied for compensation to the Agriculture Department in the years 2022,2023 and 2024, but till date they have not paid me compensation."
(photo: Farmer shows the footprints of the bisons who frequent the fields)