HP Govt releases Rs 1 crore to meet drought-like situation
In the wake of the delay in rain and snow leading, the Horticulture Department is keeping a close watch on the situation in the state.
As rains lash the northern areas of north Bengal, including the Hills, the water level in the Atryee river in south Dinajpur has suddenly gone up, damaging seasonal crops cultivated on the river bed and washing away a long bamboo bridge in Raghunathpur in Balurghat.
Hundreds of farmers who had cultivated seasonal crops have lost their crop due to the rise in the water level in the river, while more than 20 villages under the Chakvrigue and Bwaldar gram panchayats have lost connectivity with Balurghat through the “shortcut route” as the temporary bamboo bridge was damaged.
The landless farmers living along the Atryee river in the district, mainly in Paranpur, Pagliganj, Patiram and Kumarganj, use the river bed for cultivation during the summer season.
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They cultivate watermelon, gourdes, cucumber and pumpkin as seasonal crops. This is peak watermelon season and hundreds of acres of cucumber and pumpkin fields have been washed away, it is learnt.
“This is unexpected in midMay as the river usually remains dry and we produce cucumber and other vegetables and fruits. But this sudden rise in the water level has led us to suffer huge losses. This is not only because of the rainfall in the north, but Bangladesh has also opened the rubber dam at the Fulbari area in Bangladesh,” said one affected farmer of Paranpur area, Saibal Das.
Assistant director of agriculture in the Balurghat Block, Partha Mukherjee, admitted to the big losses the farmers of these areas are facing now.
“The farmers usually use the river bed and the embankment of the river for seasonal crops, but now the sudden rise in the water level has destroyed their crops,” he said.
The District director of the Horticulture department, Soumendra Nath Khara, said, “Officials of the horticulture department have started assessing the losses of the farmers and a final report will be prepared within a few days.”
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