Night raids by wild elephants leave trail of ruin in Palasbari, Rani farmlands

Palasbari, Dec 15: Rampaging herds of wild elephants, straying from neighbouring Meghalaya forests in search of food, have caused widespread devastation in the Palasbari and Rani areas, destroying hundreds of bighas of paddy fields and damaging homes, boundary walls, and stored food grains.

The recurring raids have intensified human-elephant conflict, leaving farmers, daily wage earners, and villagers living in constant fear. According to local residents, elephants have been moving in groups and entering agricultural fields and human settlements, flattening standing paddy crops, uprooting trees, breaking fences and walls, and consuming stored harvest. Rabi crops have also suffered damage, compounding losses for farmers already under financial stress.

On Friday night, a herd entered Kharapara village and broke into a cowshed where harvested paddy had been stored, consuming and trampling the grain. The sudden intrusion created panic, forcing villagers to flee in the dark. Retired schoolteacher Nripen Sharma, along with several farmers and daily labourers, narrowly escaped as the elephants moved through the settlement.

Residents said the animals are now venturing out as early as dusk, creating an atmosphere of terror in both Palasbari and Rani. Villagers have been lighting fires, beating tin sheets, bursting crackers, and keeping nightlong vigil to drive the elephants away, but these measures have failed to prevent repeated incursions.

Locals alleged that the Forest Department's response has been inadequate and that elected representatives have not visited the affected villages to assess the damage.

The scale of the menace became more evident on Saturday when a large herd of over 40 wild elephants was seen moving through Parakuchi near Mirza. The herd passed through farmland, damaging standing paddy crops and forcing villagers to retreat indoors as fear spread across the area.

Amid growing distress among farmers, a recent decision by the Union Ministry of Agriculture has offered some relief. On November 18, 2025, the ministry approved revised modalities under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) to cover crop losses caused by wild animal attacks as well as paddy crop inundation.

Under the revised framework, crop loss due to wild animal attacks will be recognised as the fifth add-on cover under the 'Localised Risk' category of PMFBY. States will notify the list of wild animals responsible for crop damage and identify vulnerable districts or insurance units based on historical data. Farmers will be required to report losses within 72 hours through the Crop Insurance App by uploading geo-tagged photographs. The new guidelines will be implemented from the kharif season of 2026.

For years, farmers living near forests, wildlife corridors, and hilly regions have suffered increasing crop losses due to attacks by elephants, wild boars, nilgai, deer, and monkeys, with such losses often going uncompensated as they were not covered under crop insurance. The revised norms are expected to bridge this long-standing protection gap.

The ministry has also restored coverage for paddy crop inundation, which had been removed from the localised calamity category in 2018 due to concerns over assessment and moral hazard. Its exclusion had left farmers in flood-prone areas vulnerable to repeated losses during heavy rains and overflowing rivers.

The renewed coverage is expected to benefit farmers in states witnessing frequent human-wildlife conflict, including Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand, as well as Himalayan and northeastern states such as Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, and Himachal Pradesh.

For farmers in Palasbari and Rani, who continue to face nightly threats from wild elephants, the policy move offers a measure of hope.

However, villagers insist that insurance coverage alone is not enough and have demanded immediate preventive measures, regular patrolling, early-warning systems, and effective compensation to prevent further loss of crops, property, and human lives.