Open Letter to the Forest Department
For over three decades, we, the few remaining senior citizens of the village, have continued cultivating our fields despite many challenges. As the sowing season approaches, pigeons and peacocks have once again become a major nuisance.
After sowing, we are forced to stand in the wet and mucky fields from dawn to dusk without a break to keep the birds away. Pigeons arrive in thousands, making them hard to manage. When we chase them from one section, they simply move to another, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.
Peacocks, too, cause significant damage. Driven out of their natural habitat—largely due to unchecked development and official apathy—they have taken shelter in our fields. Though they are our national bird and undeniably beautiful, they become a menace in an agricultural setting.
They feed on our grain from sowing until harvest, leaving little for us farmers. Their population has also increased substantially in recent years.
Some farmers, who have taken loans to cultivate their crops, end up in tears after losing everything to these birds.
As you're aware, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has enhanced ex-gratia relief under centrally sponsored schemes for victims of crop damage, property loss, or fatalities due to wild animals. The Forest Department is expected to protect wildlife while also compensating farmers for losses.
We urge the department to either trap and relocate the peacocks to Bondla at the earliest, depute forest guards to protect our fields until harvest, or compensate us accordingly.
Peafowl are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and anyone found hunting or killing them can face up to seven years in prison. Therefore, we farmers from Guirim and Sangolda appeal to you to act immediately, especially with the kharif season fast approaching. If our plea is ignored again, we will be forced to seek relief from the Court. Let better judgement prevail.