Continuous heavy rainfall has destroyed most of the flowering plants at the ‘valey of flowers’ at Hossainpur under Haroa in North 24-Parganas, one of the major flower supplier villages to city

The village supplies flowers to its surrounding villages and neighbouring states during the puja season. Just ahead of the Lakshmi Puja, the flower farmers are counting significant losses. They have lost their enthusiasm since the beginning of the Sharod Utsav (From Biswakarma Puja) as they used to supply flowers till Jagadhatri and Kartik Puja. Hossainpur village, located in the Haroa constituency of the Basirhat Lok Sabha is also widely known as the ‘village of flowers’. Most of the villagers here rely on flower farming for their livelihood. By selling flowers during the festival season, they gather provisions for the entire year. However, this year, before the festival could even begin, continuous heavy rains submerged acres of their flower fields underwater. As a result, blooming marigold and tuberose flowers suffered severe damage.

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The flowers have rotted in the fields and most of the plants have died. This year, flower farmers were unable to provide good food or new clothes to their families during the festival. They are anxiously counting the days, wondering how they will sustain their household.

Various types of flowers are grown here throughout the year. However, in recent years, Hossainpur has gained particular fame for cultivating marigold, chrysanthemums and tuberoses. During the winter, Hossainpur has attracted many flower-loving tourists to witness the beauty during the blooming season.

This year, floods have severely damaged flower cultivation, delaying the blooming of flowers. Flower farmers are facing immense uncertainty. Even chrysanthemum cultivation in Hossainpur is profitable, and many farmers grow them. There is a high demand for Hossainpur chrysanthemums in various parts of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Pune and Ahmedabad. To meet this demand, Hossainpur farmers cultivate chrysanthemums in stages. Every year, cultivation begins at the end of the month of Shravan (July-August) and flowers are usually ready by the month of Aghran (November-December). This year, too, cultivation started at the end of Shravan. But just a month later, the flood waters submerged the chrysanthemum fields, marigolds and tuberose causing severe losses to the farmers. Jahangir Mallick, a flower farmer said that this year flower production could have been huge but frequent rains and floods caused loss of production.

“We are seeing damages in production since Biswakarma Puja. Rotten flowers were rejected by customers. We have purchased seeds, fertilizers for production and now face huge losses. AKM Farhad, zilla parishad member, said that they are trying their level best to support flower suppliers and farmers. “We already discussed the matter, several farmers are associated with this business so we are trying to help them,” he said.