Ram Udgar Mahato of Dhanusha Bateshwar Rural Municipality-1 has a long experience in vegetable farming. He also has no shortage of fertile farmland. But he is gradually moving away from agriculture.

The reason is, Nilgai . He is saddened when a swallow comes and destroys the crops he has planted. Farmers here cultivate vegetables and mangoes. "There are not many other crops here," he says, "but this year the mango has not fruited." Ram Udgar, who has been making a living from vegetable farming, has started wandering for wage work these days. 

After the main source of income was destroyed by the vegetable nilgai, he says that now he is working as a mason as a daily wage. He complains that the Nilgai who comes to the group will eat the vegetables. He says that he had to look for other jobs as he did not have an income equal to the investment. 66-year-old Sonavati Mahato of the same village is in similar pain. She said that she used to come to the house and swallow the vegetable crops.

All the members of the family have been cultivating vegetables on two bigha land. She said that two lakhs worth of vegetables are swallowed and destroyed annually. "Monkeys and Nile cows in this area have been causing suffering to the farmers for 10 years," she said, "One and a half years ago, the local government drove away the monkeys." But, the Nilgai is going on . Which destroys every farmer's crop in one night.'

Harishchandra Mahato of the same ward is also suffering from nilgai. He is cultivating mangoes and vegetables on seven bighas of land . However, this year, in his field too, mangoes have grown in small quantities and vegetables have not been allowed to grow. He said that they eat mangoes that are small mango trees. He said that it is a problem to eat vegetables at home because the production is not as much as the cost. Recently, he has built a 'boundary wall' after spending 4 lakhs to grow vegetables on 5 acres of land after getting relief from the Nilgai.

'When there was a monkey, even a circle of bamboo was enough . But, Nilgai destroys it and eats the crops,' he said, 'Nilgai has given unbearable suffering.' She said that the snails had eaten three pieces of cardboard that had been prepared only a week ago. In order to avoid it, she also spent one lakh to eat vegetables at home last year and put a fence with thorn poles. 

"There was no need to look after the fields all night," she said, "when it is midnight, nilgai come in groups and eat all the crops."

Ward president Vijaykumar Mahato said that nilgai and monkey have become a big headache for the farmers here . He told that 650 monkeys were caught by people from Mathura in India and released into the forest. However, he estimates that there are some monkeys and 150 nilgai in this ward. "Gherbar is not the only way to control nilgai". Neither can be caught,' he says .