Pernem: Farmers in Pernem taluka of North Goa are having sleepless nights as 10-year-old Elephant Omkar is back and is on the rampage, destroying their crops.
With the paddy fields ready for harvesting, the worst fear expressed by farmers is that the elephant, if he enters their village, will destroy the entire crop within a few hours.
A senior officer from the Goa Forest Department confirmed that Elephant Omkar has been foraging in cashew plantations and orchard farms in Mopa and surrounding villages on the Goa-Maharashtra border.
Mopa village is home to Manohar International Airport, which is located on the plateau, while the elephant is currently sighted in plantations below the hill.
Teams of the Forest Department have been monitoring the movement of Elephant Omkar since he arrived back in Goa on March 23, 2026, he said, adding that surveillance is being carried out on the ground.
We cannot fly drones to track him as the village is a no-fly zone due to the existence of Manohar International Airport nearby, he said. The Forest Department has a team of 25 members who are working overtime tracking the elephant, he added.
Locals complained that the elephant has been freely roaming around their houses, destroying farms and also damaging vehicles.
Umesh Gad, living in Kadshi ward of Mopa village, had his four-wheeler overturned by the elephant last week, while several two-wheelers have also been damaged.
We cannot blame the elephant. He is venturing into villages in search of food as he has separated from his herd, and the forests on the Goa-Maharashtra border have witnessed a change in plantation patterns, said Gad, who works for the State Art and Culture Department.
He said that rubber plants and extensive banana plantations replacing traditional trees have forced elephants to move out of the area in search of food.
The worst fear is expressed by farmers from Tamboxem village near Mopa. Last year in September, the elephant was in our village for almost a week and destroyed almost the entire paddy crop, said Madhusudan Samant, a local farmer.
He said that this time the paddy is fully grown and ready for harvesting. It is a result of our hard work. If Omkar comes to our village and starts attacking the crop, we will be in major financial loss, he said.
Another local, Dayanand Gawandi, who is also a member of the local panchayat, said that farmers have their fingers crossed. We are having sleepless nights. We are just praying that Omkar does not come to our village, he said.
Elephant Omkar was first sighted on the Goa-Maharashtra border in 2025 when this sub-adult elephant started straying up to 25 km away from his herd in Sindhudurg in Maharashtra.
He was reported to have turned aggressive and was later linked to a human death in Maharashtra, prompting a capture order there.
As per records of the State Forest Department, Omkar had his first entry into Goa on September 13, 2025.
Officials said that Omkar entered Goa through the Pernem border belt, marking his first confirmed arrival in the state, and Maharashtra forest teams had alerted Goa officials immediately.
The department said attempts were made in mid-September 2025 to push him back into the wild.
In the next 48 hours, Goa teams made three attempts to guide him back to Maharashtra. These failed after farmers on the Maharashtra side allegedly burst crackers to drive him away from their fields, forcing him back into Goa, the forest official said.
In September 2025, Omkar settled in North Goa villages and spent several days moving across Tamboxem, Ugvem, and Mopa in Pernem taluka.
The Forest Department said that on September 30, 2025, he returned to the forests of Maharashtra and reappeared in December 2025 in Goa, went back again in January, and reunited with the herd.
The Forest Department once again sighted him in Goa on March 23, 2026, and since then he has been in the border areas of the coastal state.
