Visakhapatnam: A formal complaint was submitted through the Public Grievance Redressal System (PGRS) to A. Shyam Prasad, the collector of Parvathipuram Manyam district, urging compensation for tribal farmers whose homes and crops were destroyed by wild elephant attacks. In response to the complaint, Shyam Prasad ordered immediate clarification from the forest department and instructed officials to conduct a thorough field investigation, submitting their report without delay.The petition was submitted by CPM district secretary Kolli Gangu Naidu and CPM committee member Kolli Sambamurthy, who briefed the media on the extent of destruction across Kurupam mandal, including the Jarada and Tithiri panchayats, particularly in villages such as Boddamaguda, Gumidimanuguda, Gundam, Kothaguda, and Nimalimanuguda. They reported that standing crops, including broom, paddy, turmeric, maize, cotton, and bananas, had been completely ravaged by elephant herds. While officials from the Forest, Agriculture, and Revenue departments visited the affected areas, assessed the damages, and collected applications from farmers, no compensation has been issued, even after.Sambamurthy alleged that Jarada panchayat vice president Harika Ramesh and others were stopped by forest officials on their way to the collector’s office and were advised not to submit their complaint through the PGRS. He criticised the forest department’s actions, questioning the delay in compensation despite assurances that payments would be processed within a week.He demanded that the forest, agriculture, and revenue departments take urgent and transparent steps to compensate all tribal farmers affected by crop loss and displacement. “Many villages were destroyed, yet not a single rupee has been paid to those who lost their homes and crops,” Sambamurthy stated.Sambamurthy also highlighted the recent damage to elephants in the Kurupam constituency and reiterated the need for immediate action from the Forest Department to compensate the affected families.
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