BARGARH: Another farmer from the district ended his life by consuming pesticide due to crop loss after pest attack on Friday. With the death of the farmer, the number of farmer suicide cases in the district rose to 12 in the last 50 days.
The deceased farmer has been identified as Umesh Jagdala (35) of village Bhalupali in Attabira block of the district. He consumed the pesticide in his farm land on Thursday and was rushed to VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla. However, he succumbed while undergoing treatment in VIMSAR on Friday.
Reports said Umesh was a share-cropper. He had taken four acres of land on lease and cultivated paddy on the land. This apart, he had also cultivated vegetable over half an acre of government land.
He had taken private loan amounting to `1 lakh for cultivation of paddy and vegetable. However, the paddy crop had got damaged due to infestation of brown plant hopper while the vegetable got damaged due to pest attack.
Suryabandhu Jagdala, brother of the deceased farmer, said Umesh was under severe mental duress due to crop loss. He alleged that his brother took the extreme step due to crop loss and loan burden.
On the other hand, the death of Umesh sparked tension in Attabira area when the body reached Attabira after autopsy from VIMSAR. The enraged locals blocked National Highway 6 at Attabira holding back the body of Umesh for about four hours demanding that the State Government should own up suicide, adequate compensation and other benefits be provided for the family members of the deceased.
However, the impasse was broken after Attabira tehsildar Dault Chandrakar and Additional Superintendent of Police, Bargarh Jasobanta Senapati interacted with the agitators.
The family of the deceased was handed out `10,000 from the Red Cross Fund and `2,000 under Harishchandra Yojana for the last rites. Moreover, the family was assured of a house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).