VALPOI
Stepping up their pressure, farmers from Sattari taluka have threatened to protest on the streets if the government fails to declare bison, wild boar and monkeys as vermin.
At a public meeting in the Valpoi Laxmi Bai Memorial Hall on Saturday, the farmers also decided to petition the court to seek justice regarding the damage caused by wild animals to their plantations and cultivations since the last one decade.
The farmers complained that the government had not been attentive to their grievances and no MLA had raised the vermin issue in the recent assembly session.
“The farmers have been repeatedly approaching authorities for a solution to the menace, but it is unfortunate that no political party has been serious about our plight,” lamented a farmer Ashok Joshi. “The farmers should be ready to agitate to fulfill their demand or else agriculture plantation will only remain on paper in Sattari taluka, with no meaningful agriculture left in future,” he said.
Social activist and farmer, Ranjit Rane, strongly demanded that the government take steps to prevent wild animals straying into agricultural plantations and densely populated areas.
Vinay Bapat blamed the forest department for failing to locate the bison at Guleli, which has been linked to the deaths of two women in the area in the last two months.
At the meeting, the farmers decided to form an organisation and form village-level sub-committees, while
also deciding to file a PIL in High Court to seek justice in the matter.
