ADILABAD: Local farmers are living in the grip of fear as tigers have been spotted again moving in the cotton fields, taking advantage of the shelter offered by the cotton plants in Bejjur and Penchikalpet mandals in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district. The cotton plants can grow up to six metres in height, providing ideal cover for tigers.
There is lurking danger in the mandals for farmers with the increased tiger movement and pugmarks being noticed in the cotton fields. Farmers of Inam village of Dahegam mandal saw a tiger in the vicinity of agriculture fields and found pugmarks of a tiger in the cotton fields on September 12.
The villagers raised an alarm with traditional sounds to chase away the tiger. The forest staff reached the spot and confirmed the pugmarks as that of a tiger. The officials asked the farmers not to go alone to agriculture fields following the tiger movement.
A few days ago, villagers and bikers saw a tiger crossing the road near Golladevara temple on the road to Bejjur from Penchikapet. Frequently tigers are seen these days in the mandals. Already, many farmers are having sleepless nights with the increased tiger movement in and around their agriculture fields. The farmers have to go to their cotton fields for weeding and applying fertilizers and pesticides to the standing crops.
Last year, a tiger attacked a girl Pasula Nirmala, 15, and killed her while she was picking cotton in the fields adjacent to the forest area on the outskirts of Kondapalli village in Penchikalpet mandal on November 29, 2020.
Farmers got confirmation that tigers are moving in the cotton fields after finding pugmarks in cotton fields that are close to forests in Penchikalpet mandal in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district. The cotton plants are grown high and look like a forest.
