BARGARH: Facing crop damage due to unseasonal and excessive rains, farmers of Bargarh on Monday staged a protest at the district collector’s office demanding immediate intervention by the government.
Holding bunches of sprouted paddy, the farmers under the banner of Sanjukta Krushak Sangathan alleged that the administration and elected representatives have turned a blind eye to their suffering.
“Due to the untimely rain, our fields are submerged. While harvested paddy is rotting, no official damage assessment is in sight,” they claimed.
The farmers further said as per the government’s disaster management guidelines, a preliminary assessment report of damage must be submitted within 48 hours of a natural calamity. However, no such assessment has been carried out in the district. Besides, not a single district-level review meeting has been convened so far, they claimed.
Advisor of the outfit Ramesh Mahapatra said Bargarh usually records an average rainfall of 27 mm in the month of may. But due to low pressure, the district has recorded 122 mm rainfall last month. The rains have left farmers of several blocks in distress.
“While around 50 per cent of rabi paddy has reached the mandis, the rest is still lying in fields. No survey has been conducted so far and the administration is yet to give us any assurance,” he alleged.
Later in the day, the agitating farmers submitted a memorandum to additional district magistrate Madhuchhanda Sahu. In the memorandum, the farmers demanded immediate procurement of all harvested paddy without quality restrictions, provision of input subsidies for farmers who suffered crop loss and expedited damage survey with swift disbursal of insurance compensation.