Odisha farmer dies allegedly due to crop loss
Deeply upset over the kharif crop loss due to recent unseasonal rain, a debt-ridden small and marginal farmer in Odisha’s Kendrapara district died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday.
Hundreds of bighas of agricultural land in the Khanakul-2 block area are inundated by a large volume of irrigation water released by DVC for boro rice cultivation. The farmers are highly upset over the massive loss of crops. The affected farmers said that the Harinkhola dam over the Mundeswari River distributary was badly affected during the last flood. “Since then, the irrigation department didn’t carry out the repair work. We drew the attention of the panchayat samiti krishi karmadhyaksha, Umesh Adhikari, multiple times, but all in vain. We took loans to raise paddy crops, vegetables, mustard, groundnut, and potatoes.
The entire agricultural yield is now under water. We have lost everything. We are ruined. It is our request that our loan amount is completely waived off and appropriate compensation is provided to us. It is also our longstanding demand that the weak dams are repaired promptly.” The Khanakul-2 BDO, Madhumita Ghosh, the Khanakul-2 Panchayat Samiti krishi karmadhyaksha, Umesh Adhikari, and other administrative heads visited the flooded area to get apprised of the present situation. The BDO assured every possible help to the affected farmers. Umesh Adhikari, the Panchayat Samiti krishi karmadhyaksha from the BJP, said: “I have approached the concerned authorities multiple times, drawing their attention towards the weak state of the dams which required urgent attention, but they remained indifferent to the issue.
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Since BJP is politically strong in the Arambagh Sub-Division, the TMC resorted to mean politics.” The TMC leadership, however, refuted the allegations brought against them by the BJP leader. The Khanakul-2 BDO said that the repair work on the weak dams will start soon, and the concerned department will buy the potatoes directly from the affected farmers.
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