CHITTOOR, India – V. Rakesh Sharma’s two-acre plot is the only one that lies barren in the picturesque village of 190 Ramapuram in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India.
A few withered groundnut plants cling to the neglected soil, but no one cares enough to clear them away. This sight evokes deep melancholy among the villagers, for this land used to flourish, producing bountiful harvests of groundnuts, chillies and other native vegetables.
This particular plot was more than enough to sustain Sharma’s family of four. His parents used to work the fields together every morning, a bonding ritual that strengthened their relationship.
On August 30th, 2023, a wild elephant barged into the village, for the first time in its recorded history. One of them trampled Sharma’s father, and when his mother rushed in to chase it away, the animal trampled her as well.
Now, Sharma and his brother avoid going into the field “because it brings back the painful memories of our parents' death,” he told The Xylom. This tragic incident forced the family, who relied on farming as a primary source of income, to seek other employment. Even though the forest department issued a total compensation of INR 10 lakh ($12,100), the family was left “penniless,” Sharma said.
Deforestation and a changing climate have forced elephants to move away from their natural habitats in search of food and water, causing disruption of human settlements and increasing conflicts between the giant mammals and villagers.
R. Ganesh, who used to cultivate paddy with his father on a two-acre plot in Chittoor’s Madireddipalle village, now works as a laborer after his father was killed in a wild elephant rampage while he was on his way to irrigate his fields on a late evening in August 2023.
“The forest department advised us to not get out in the dark. But we can irrigate our crops only then as the electricity department provides power in the night,” he said.
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This unexpected death took a sharp toll on his family’s livelihood, as, like many other small farmers, he is unable to afford hired labor to make up for the loss.
But worse than the fall from their previous socioeconomic standing is the grief for his father that pervades him constantly. When he remembers sharing sangati (a native ball-shaped food item made of finger millet and rice) with his father in the fields, he chokes up, realizing that a strong pillar of his family is no longer with them.
Ex-gratia Compensations Are No Help
The agriculturally rich Chittoor district is situated between the Cauvery North Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu and Bannerghatta National Park in Karnataka. In the last decade, elephants have killed 26 humans, more than 50 cattle, and damaged almost 6,000 acres of cropfields in more than 6,900 incidents of human-elephant conflict within the district.
However, victims of these episodes have received meager compensation for their troubles.
The average compensation for trampled sugarcane and paddy fields has been around INR 6,000 per acre (equivalent to $71) while damaged coconut and mango trees have been valued at INR 1,500 per tree (equivalent to $18).
Those who lost a family member used to receive INR 5 lakh (equivalent to $6,000) per death as compensation.
Five out of eight farmers who were interviewed by The Xylom reported receiving no compensation for their damaged crops at all, and others reported receiving less than the expected amount.
In August 2024, the state issued an order revising the ex-gratia compensation for human deaths caused by wild animals to INR 10 lakh (equivalent to $12,000) per death. The revised government order also increased the amount for crop damage compensation by a little but it has yet to be implemented.
For many of the victims, these actions are too little, and too late. They have been urging the forest department to offer jobs to family members to provide the bereaved with more financial stability.
Caste System Still Creates A Disadvantage
When a herd of elephants raided his farm over a year ago, farmer T. Nagaraju of Chittoor district lost half of his 140 mango trees but didn’t receive a single rupee until a year later.
“Farmers belonging to the upper caste whose crops were damaged by elephants received it within a month,” the 40-year-old said, emphasizing the fact that he belongs to the Dalit caste, which is the lowest of the castes consisting of those considered to be outcasts and untouchable.
Caste still plays a significant role in how minorities are treated in the region, and factors such as poverty, illiteracy, and absence of social capital further hinder marginalized communities from navigating the bureaucratic processes required to claim compensation.
Usually, Nagaraju’s summer mangoes bring an income of INR 50,000 (equivalent to $600) in the market. But this year, he had nothing.
“I didn’t tend to the remaining trees, fearing for my life after elephants had killed a person in my village,” Nagaraju said.
Instead, he commutes for three hours to work as a laborer and makes INR 400 (equivalent to almost $5) for 14 hours of work in a day. “I miss working on my fields. It is a luxury I have lost,” he said.
Other residents have similar complaints. C. Paradesi, who lives in Tekumanda village, lost his paddy farms to elephants and received pennies to the dollar, which weren’t even enough to cover his labor costs, while Basava of Mottameedha Rachapalli village had to give up his sacred ritual of planting tomato seeds in the fertile black soil of his farm, after elephants ravaged his paddy, mango and tomato crops three times last year.
C. Paradesi lost six months of income after elephants destroyed his paddy farm.
“Yet, the victims of [human-elephant conflict] are compensated very less, compared to the victims of natural calamities” who usually receive about two to four times the compensation for crop damage, said village horticulturist Madhusudan Reddy, who works with the state horticulture department.
Due to issues with delays in payment, the forest department has proposed the construction of an online application, said C. Chaitanya Kumar Reddy, Chittoor’s former district forest officer. Through this online portal, farmers can file a claim and track its status, as government officials verify their claims and approve them within a day or two.
Government Attempts to Mitigate Conflict
Studies have shown that crops meant for human consumption are raided by elephants almost 400% times more frequently than other kinds of crops. As a result, farmers are growing crops that are less appealing to elephants, such as lemongrass, to protect their farms.
But elephants are attracted to these farms and food crops because their natural habitat and food sources are being rapidly disturbed by deforestation, human encroachment on forests, and a changing climate. Invasion of non-native species in Indian forests is also reducing the available food sources for elephants.
“To tackle this issue in the long term, proper habitat management is essential,” Reddy said. “One effective solution is to establish fodder plots within the reserve forests and along the edges of forest boundaries so that they have sufficient food within their habitat.”
But while these long-term strategies are being implemented, it is necessary to provide short-term solutions that can prevent more conflicts. According to Seema Lokhandwala of the Elephants Acoustics Project, which studies elephant communication through generative artificial intelligence in Northeast India, these conflicts can be prevented by tracking elephant movements and identifying herds that can potentially create problems.
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According to a 2021 study that focused on human-elephant conflicts in the state of Odisha, understanding the range and behavior of these herds can help resolve some of the issues. But when the affected communities aren’t paid adequate attention and compensation post-damage, resentment can fester and spoil conservation efforts further, the study added.
“The home range of Asian elephant herds spreads over 100 to 1,000 square kilometers,” wrote study authors Biplab Kumar Guru and Amarendra Das. “Elephant herds with such a huge home range are expected to be involved in frequent conflict with humans in a country such as India with a 1.3 billion human population.”
