Pilibhit farmers battle jumbo menace despite integration into elephant reserve Keshav Agarwal, Times of India April 1, 2025 Farmers across six villages in Pilibhit including Kanja Haraiyya, Sirsa Sardah, Mala, Baibaha, and Gole Colony are struggling as wild elephants continue to ravage their standing wheat and mustard crops almost daily. Despite repeated complaints, forest authorities have failed to take any protective measures, they said, adding that in the past month alone, elephants have damaged 60-70 acres of standing crops, leaving farmers frustrated over the lack of action. This crisis persists despite the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) being integrated into the Terai Elephant Reserve (TER) on Dec 19, 2022, following approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Spanning 3,072 sq km, TER includes Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) and its buffer zones, along with Katarniaghat and Kishanpur wildlife sanctuaries. One of its key objectives was to provide compensation for crop damage and fatalities caused by elephant incursions. However, PTR is yet to receive any funds under TER for this purpose. Even 281 farmers whose crops were destroyed three years ago in 2022 still wait for relief, despite official damage assessments being forwarded to the forest department. Officials of PTR's TER component had, in 2014, estimated the need for Rs 100 crore for a five-year plan to systematically manage TER and implement protective measures, including solar and chain-link fencing along PTR's periphery. Plans also included installing 140 surveillance towers equipped with high-tech cameras, capable of capturing images at night and transmitting precise animal coordinates to a central control room. Another proposed measure—beehive fencing—was based on elephants' natural aversion to bees, but both initiatives remain stalled due to a lack of funds. Farmers from the affected villages described the extent of the damage, with herds of 8 to 10 elephants ravaging crops, and at least two returning nightly to feed and trample fields. "We're losing our livelihoods, and nothing is being done," said Gurpej Singh, a farmer from Baibaha. Divisional forest officer (DFO) of the forest and wildlife division, Bharat Kumar, said that a damage assessment report was submitted to the state forest administration on March 26, seeking compensation funds. He added that no financial assistance had been allocated since TER's notification. In the absence of official intervention, farmers have been advised to burn red chilli with cow dung cakes, create loud noises using drums, and shine highpowered torches at elephants to deter them. Although PTR has no resident elephant population, migrating herds from Nepal and Dudhwa Tiger Reserve continue to wreak havoc, leaving farmers caught between bureaucratic inaction and rising agricultural losses. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/pilibhit-farmers-battle-jumbo-menace-despite-integration-into-elephant-reserve/articleshow/119878861.cms