Nearly ₹ 1 crore given as compensation for crop damages in Coimbatore this year

Forest Dept. disbursed ₹95 lakh to farmers for crop damages in Coimbatore Forest Division till Septeber. Farmers associations say compensation inadequate & delayed. Farmers raised issues at tripartite meeting & requested govt. to do away with ₹25K/acre ceiling & provide relief like natural calamity victims. Request to cull wild boar outside forests & decide compensation for human deaths due to wild animal attack.

The Forest Department has disbursed compensation to the tune of ₹95 lakh to farmers as compensation for crop damages in areas falling under the limits of the Coimbatore Forest Division till September this year, according to District Forest Officer N. Jayaraj. The official said that a total compensation of ₹1.65 crore was disbursed to farmers for crop damages in 2022.

Farmers’ associations said that the compensation being provided by the Forest Department remains inadequate when compared to the money that is spent on a specific crop. Also, there is considerable delay in the processing and payment of the compensation, said G. Ranganathan of Thamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam.

Farmers raised these issues at a tripartite meeting on human-animal conflict convened by District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati on September 28. They pointed out that processing of applications for crop damages were pending with the Forest Department every year due to inadequate allocation of funds by the State government.

P. Kandasamy of Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam, a non-partisan association of farmers, said that the government should do away with the practice of fixing a ceiling of ₹25,000 as compensation per acre as the actual value of a specific crop in an acre would be a few lakhs.

“Price for crops damaged by wild animals is fixed by officials from the Agriculture Department who visit the field. We want the Forest Department to pay us at least the amount recommended by them. Farmers should also be given immediate relief for the damages just as in the case of solatium given by the government to victims of natural calamity, accident, etc.,” he said.

He also wanted the Tamil Nadu government to issue orders for culling of wild boar that has colonised outside forests, causing extensive damages to crops.

Mr. Ranganathan added that his association has been requesting the government to decide the compensation for human deaths due to the attack of wild animals as done by the motor vehicle accidents tribunal than providing the flat sum of ₹4 lakh as solatium.