As people remained indoors due to COVID-19 lockdown, intrusion of wild animals in human habitation is on the rise.
Kartik, 30, of MM Street, Kodaikanal, was gored to death by an Indian Gaur on Friday.
The victim, a mechanic, was walking home around noon, when he was attacked by the animal and he died on the spot.
Locals said threat from wild animals has been increasing.
A fortnight ago, a milch animal was killed in a similar fashion. Though complaints were lodged with the forest department officials nothing has happened, villagers complained.
In this backdrop, accusing Forest officials of negligence, members of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh here demanded registration of cases against them. The district is represented by Dindigul C Srinivasan who is the Minister for Forests, it said in a memorandum to the Collector.
“Neither are we given compensation, nor any measures are taken to prevent the conflict between man and animals in this region,” said a farmer Boopathi from Adalur village.
The Dindigul Forest Range is one of the biggest ranges in south Tamil Nadu and has as many as four IFS officers. Instead of examining modalities to keep wild animals deep inside the forests with the aid of technology, officials blamed farmers all the time, he said.
The locals say forest officials harass villagers whenever there was death of an animal. “It is the local forest officials who let poachers inside reserve forests but locals are blamed and humiliated,” Antony of Vilpatti near Kodaikanal said.
To prevent animals from trespassing into human habitations, eco watchers have been appointed but they were ineffective, the Sangh said and demanded they be stopped the way Friends of Police (FoP) was rescinded in Tamil Nadu.
Considering the plight of farmers and villagers, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami should immediately act upon their demands and give compensation for the losses, office-bearers said in the memorandum. A majority of farmers here raised horticulture crops and most of them had suffered losses due to destruction of their farms, they added.
