Farmers in Angul’s Palahada block on Friday blocked National Highway-149 demanding fulfillment of their five-point charter of demands, including protection of crops from elephants.
The farmers under the banner of Anchalika Chasi Suraksha Samiti staged the road blockade near Khemal Square for around six hours leaving several vehicles stranded on both the sides of the NH connecting Palahada with Talcher.
Samiti president Choudhury Behera said elephants have destroyed around 30,000 acres spread over 30 villages in four gram panchayats of Khemala, Karadapal, Batichuan and Badasada in the last three years. The government should come up with a permanent solution to the elephant menace, otherwise we won’t be able to raise crops on our farmland, he added.
Samiti’s convener Chintamani Samal said the government officials don’t estimate the loss correctly and provide less money as compensation. The officials also carry out the estimation after crop cutting and people get their compensation much later, he added.