The State government has taken steps to protect the standing crops being destroyed by wild animals, said District Forest Officer Rajkumar on Friday.

Responding to queries raised by farmers, the official said that fresh staffs had been recruited by the Forest Department and training was underway at Coimbatore. When the training was completed, the staffs would be posted across the RF locations.

In Dindigul district, elephant menace has been reported from Batlagundu, Oddanchatram, Kannivadi, Ayakudi and other areas. The trained personnel would guard the reserve forest areas soon and farmers’ would be given briefing about their roles for better coordination and curtailing the menace.

Similarly, there have been issues raised by farmers that boars and peacocks destroying horticultural crops, including groundnut and millets in Natham, Sirumalai, Alagarkoil hills and Ayyalur. The forest official said that a WhatsApp group would be started with the forest guards and farmers in the respective belts.

The Collector S. Saravanan was presiding the meeting, the farmers’ said that their long felt demand to save mankind and the crops from wild animals has been addressed and hoped to look at higher yields. Many others said that due to the wild animal menace, they had stopped growing crops such as corns, which were destructed easily.

A farmer Thangavel said that there were many fake documents being attached while registration of lands in Gujiliamparai sub-registrar office. He urged the Collector to take stock of the situation and arrest the suspects behind the scam.

The farmers from Thangampatti appealed to desilt the water bodies and also remove the thorny bushes. It not only affected the free flow of water for irrigation, but also was a hindrance to the crops. Hence, they wanted the PWD (Water Resources Department) officials to swing into action before the rains.