Yes, elephants can certainly destroy crops. But proximity is a symmetric concept. The problem has been the massive expansion of our (speaking as an Indian) population (~360 million in 1950 to ~1.4 billion in 2021) into previously untouched areas, not the migration of elephants (and other species) into Bombay, Delhi and Chennai.

There are organizations that are working on more wildlife-friendly farming: https://elephantfriendlytea.com/ as well as on preventing the capture of elephants, see: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54026294.