Blue bulls, wild boars, monkeys and elephants pose a potential menace to the croplands of Birsa Harit Gram Yojana (BHGY) in Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar districts.

Mango plantations, primarily, are done in the area under BHGY, said deputy development commissioner (DDC) of Palamau Bindu Madhav Prasad Singh.

An acre of land can have as many as planted 120 saplings.

“Blue bulls, wild boars and monkeys are the neo-agricultural terrorists. These animals invade our fields, destroy standing crops, and feast on our vegetables,” said Kishore Kumar Pandey, a farmer of Basna village.

Since these animals are under the Wildlife Protection Act, no harm can be done to them, said noted wildlife expert DS Srivastava.

“If our neighbour state UP is ridden with swarms of locusts, here in Jharkhand’s Palamau we have blue bulls, wild boars, monkeys and elephants to cause the destruction of crops,” said Pandey.

Latehar district president of Adivasi Sengal Andolan, Victor Kerketta, said herds of elephants that come from Chhattisgarh are a great threat to crops and the lives of farmers in the district.

“Barely 10 kilometers away from Daltonganj when I was on the way to Garhwa, an adult blue bull attacked my car. I had a miraculous escape but my car suffered damages worth around 50,000 of rupees,” said a health official working in Sadar Hospital Garhwa, Perwin Kumar Singh.

Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF ) Jharkhand S Nandkeolyar said that there is a provision of compensation to be given to farmers whose crops are destroyed or damaged by wildlife like blue bulls and elephants.

Palamau BJP MP VD Ram urged the state government to go for cattle prevention trenches (CPT) for all kinds of plantations that are being done under BHGY.

“I understand CPT will prevent big animals like blue bulls, elephants etc. from raiding plantations. As for wild boars and monkeys nothing can be done,” he said.

“A CPT with a dimension of 6 feet width 4 feet depth creates a day’s worth of wages which is 194 rupees under the MGNREG Act,” Ram added.

“The trench soil so dug up will make a bund which will further help in retaining rain waters in the fields,” he said.

State convener of NREGA Watch, a statutory body under the MGNREG Act, James Herunj said “We also ask the state government to go for CPT as this will not only protect the saplings but also create wages for MGNREG labourers.”