Elephants wipe out garlic harvest in Kanthalloor; Angry farmers detain forest officials

Marayoor: After four and a half months of careful farming and nurturing, a garlic harvest in Kanthalloor was reduced to rubble when a herd of wild elephants trampled the produce. Following the incident, farmers detained forest officials at the spot for nearly three hours in protest.

The attack took place late Sunday night at Adivayal in Kanthalloor, where farmer M Manoharan had stored his harvested garlic. The crop, intended for sale, had been bagged and kept under a tarpaulin near the field. A herd of elephants entered the farmland, dragged out the stored sacks, scattered the garlic, and crushed it underfoot. The entire stock was left completely damaged and unusable.

The elephants also destroyed a potato cultivation belonging to another Kanthaloor native Chandrasekharan. Farmers said that months of hard work were wiped out in a single night.

Deputy Range Officer Muthukumar and a team of forest guards visited the site, but agitated farmers blocked them, demanding a permanent solution.

Farmers pointed out that this is not the first time such damage has occurred. Previous applications for compensation after similar incidents were left unaddressed. Although the Forest Department has deployed a Rapid Response Team (RRT), farmers claim the team’s efforts have been largely ineffective.