BALASORE: Cyclone Yaas has dampened the hopes of shrimp cultivators with more than 2,000 hectare of farms submerged due to water logging in the coastal areas of Baliapal and Bhograi in Balasore district.
Tidal waves surging to a height of eight to ten feet have inundated low-lying areas, resulting in severe financial loses to farmers who had taken up shrimp farming, which is one of the profitable ventures in the coastal areas.
Around 300 hectare of land near Kumbhirgadi panchayat under Bhograi block and more than 1,700 hectare under Baliapal block were used in shrimp farming this year. Farmers usually sell their produce mid-June and rake in good profits with companies scouting for the produce.
But the tidal surge accompanied by Yaas has shattered the hopes of many farmers like Chakradhar Sahoo who had borrowed Rs 60 lakh from a private finance company this year to invest in farming at five places and engaged people to take care of the farms.
"It will be difficult to even recover 10 per cent against the loan as a huge portion of the produce has been washed away in heavy rains," said Chakradhar who belongs to Badatalapada under Jamkunda GP in Baliapal. Without government assistance, recovery of losses would take forever, he rues.
Similar is the case of Ashok Sahoo who had taken a loan of Rs 10 lakh and started farming in three patches near Dagara and is now staring at heavy losses due to the cyclone while some others like Daitari Sahoo and Santosh Sahoo are looking at losing all the investment.
Assistant Fishery Officer of Baliapal Swayamprava Bala said, at least 222 affected farmers registered under the Coastal Aquaculture Authority would get compensated for their losses due to the cyclone.