Rani farmers seek joint Assam-Meghalaya plan as elephants raid paddy

Farmers in villages under the Rani Forest Range in Assam's Kamrup district have asked the Assam and Meghalaya governments to work together to curb raids by wild elephants that are destroying paddy just before harvest, Hub News reported on Saturday.

Elephant herds move between forests in Meghalaya and villages on the Assam side, and farmers say neither state can tackle the problem alone.

Villages on the elephant route

Villages including Patgaon, Jawe, Sajjanpara, Rajapanichanda, Bakarapara, Andherijuli, Bahupara, Manikpur, Pathaladhia, Purana Sukurbaria, Belguri, Udaypur, Nalapara, Thengapara, Garopara and Khapegaon have seen frequent movement of herds, according to the report.

Farmers said months of work on the paddy crop were at risk. Atul Nath of Nalapara said repeated raids had forced his family to give up paddy farming, and several other families had done the same. Ashok Rabha of Belguri and Dinesh Nath of Purana Sukurbaria said the situation was getting worse.

A woman, Alani Rabha, was trampled by a wild elephant at her home at Thengapara near Rani and died on the way to hospital, the report said. Three people have died in elephant-related incidents in the Rani range during 2025-26.

Farmers blame habitat loss across the border

The farmers alleged that loss of forest habitat and poaching in Meghalaya, and some people firing at elephants there, were pushing herds into Assam in search of food and shelter. These claims have not been independently verified, and the Meghalaya government has not responded to them.

What is being done

Some farmers have put up solar-powered fences around their fields at their own cost and say these have kept elephants out.

At the initiative of local MLA Himanshu Sekhar Baishya, the Forest Department has begun installing solar fencing along a roughly 17-km stretch from Purana Sukurbaria to Bagdov, of which about 3 km has been completed, the MLA said.

Rani Forest Range Officer Roji Barman said the department had applied to the government for compensation for 77 families affected by elephant attacks and crop damage.

A wider problem

Human-elephant conflict is one of Assam's most serious wildlife issues. Herds moving along the Assam-Meghalaya foothills south of Guwahati regularly enter farmland in Kamrup and Kamrup Metropolitan districts, especially at harvest time. Conservationists say protecting traditional elephant corridors on both sides of the inter-state border is key to reducing crop losses and deaths.