PERNEM
Having strayed back into Goa on Sunday after a gap of about 60 days, the elephant ‘Omkar’ continued to destroy plantations in Torsem village of Pernem.
The presence of the elephant moving around on the main road in Harijan Wada compelled about 16 students in the ward to be kept at home on Monday as a precautionary measure.
The elephant had entered Goa via Patradevi and proceeded towards Torsem village, where it began to destroy banana and other plantations belonging to some farmers in Harijan Wada.
A forest department team was present at the site to monitor the movements of the elephant.
During its previous visit to the State two months ago, the elephant had extensive damage to plantations belonging to 19 farmers in Tambose and Torse villages.
The agriculture department reported that those farmers suffered a total loss of Rs 2,49,800, of which Rs 1,13,300 has been sanctioned to 14 affected farmers, while the remaining 5 farmers are yet to be sanctioned a compensation of Rs 1,36,500.
Agriculture department officials have, however, assured that they will receive compensation during these days.
