The Tamil Nadu Police have issued a warning to farmers across the state against electric fencing of fields after people and animals succumbed to the electric shock during incessant rains and in regular times.
The state police have issued directives to all the district police superintendents after complaints poured in from districts across the state against electric fencing.
Police said that poor awareness of fencing has led to many deaths and the farmers have to be either careful on erecting electric fences or must do away with the practice of electric fencing to prevent animals from grazing into the farms during night times.
In Madurai, two persons died in a span of two weeks due to electric shock when they accidentally touched the fence through which electricity was flowing. Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, and Theni districts have also reported similar cases.
Many legislators have written to the state electricity board and district police superintendents to prevent electric fences and to save people from getting electrocuted.
Manoj Sadasivan, a farmer who is into millet farming at Erode while speaking to IANS said, “The problem is passing high voltage electricity that leads to death, to prevent animals from entering the farms a light electric power is required and passing high voltage electricity is turning fatal to both passersby as well as wild animals.”
On Thursday, the Madurai district Superintendent of Police, Bhaskaran directed the farmers of the area that putting up an electric fence is illegal and asked the people of the district to inform police if any such issue were taking place.
Several farmers and farmer organisations, however, want the administration to allow passage of low power of electricity through the fence just to wade away wild animals. The All Tamil Nadu Paddy farmers association state president V Manivarnnan while speaking to IANS said, “If the police prevent farmers from any sort of electric fencing, it would lead to the huge losses of crops across the state as the only way to prevent wild animals is fencing.”