Wild elephants go on rampage

MADIKERI: After marauding Kodagu district, wild elephants seem to be going towards Mangalore as they have settled at Jodupala for a few days.In Somwarpet and Virajpet taluks, a herd of wild elephants ransacked paddy fields and estates, destroying crops worth lakhs of rupees from Friday evening.At Jodupala near Sampaje, the elephants ransacked coconut groves, areca banana plantations.The growers, who spoke to Express, expressed their anguish as no compensation or response had come from the Forest Department in this regard. The growers estimated an individual loss of `50,000 but the compensation given to them was only a few hundred rupees, Vijaya, a farmer, said. A grower Udaya has incurred loss to the tune of `3 lakh.At Upputhodu of Sunticoppa hobli, paddy crop on one Eshwar’s one-acre land had been completely destroyed by the elephants on Saturday night.Reports from south Kodagu also revealed the threat to farmers and schoolchildren as wild elephants could turn up any time in the coffee estates and remote areas of the district.