Drought hit districts have two provisions for implementation : firstly to give stress on NREGS work as an alternative means to provide a square meal a day to the drought affected families. Secondly, it would indulge in extensive cultivation of alternate crops in early Rabi session, starting from November, the chief minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said today (in sns photo). He was speaking after a meeting in Burdwan today with the senior administrative officials and Zilla Parishad Sabhadhipatis of five South Bengal districts ~ Burdwan, Birbhum, Hooghly, Bankura & Purulia. Senior agricultural and irrigation officials along with senior district collectorate officials were present at the meeting, where the districts presented their respective contingency plans to help compensate drought affected families.
Besides, the Chief Minister has invited the union agricultural ministry to send an inspection team to the drought hit districts to get their own assessment as the situation is apprehended to deteriorate further with low cultivation possibly yielding much lesser than what is expected due a dearth in minor irrigation facilities at farmers' disposal.
Mr Bhattacharjee said: “The condition of Purulia is the worst, where only 6.5 percent of the targeted amount Amon cultivation could be achieved. The condition of Birbhum and Bankura, where average amount of cultivation was only 30 and 33 percent of the target amount. respectively, was grave.” He further said that the situations in Burdwan and Hooghly were marginally better as the average farming reached 77 percent & 73 percent of the usual, respectively.
The chief minister was critical in explaining the apprehended grim situation following food grain shortage in the state saying: “There is little possibility of the districts continuing paddy cultivation this year as the Damodar Valley Corporation has stopped water flow into their feeder channels, considering the critical condition of their reservoirs. We have suggested that the districts take steps in assuring the survival of the cultivated paddy by arranging minor irrigation facilities for the farmers.” He added: “We were supposed to ensure Amon cultivation in 40 lakh hectares which has shown a shortfall by 11 lakh hectares this year.”
The Agri-Irrigation and Agri-Mechanical divisions of the state agricultural departments in the respective districts have been asked to supervise minor irrigation and expedite restoration work of the defunct River Lift Irrigation and Deep Tube-Wells stretched across the vast areas.
Parched farmland claimed the life of a Burdwan farmer on a day the chief minister was on the soil of drought-hit Burdwan.
Sheikh Yunus (45), ~ a marginal farmer of Basantapur village in Ausgram ~ 1 block had cultivated Amon paddy on 7 bighas and had borrowed Rs 50,000 from a money lender in the locality. The farmlands in most of the Ausgram villages haven’t been provided with irrigation facility. Only on last Tuesday the farmers of Ausgram’s Debshala village had put the local irrigation office under lock and key.
According to his brother Sheikh Niyamat: “He had mental breakdown after the cultivation dried for want of irrigation water. He could apprehend the miserable fate as the money lender started pressing him for immediate repayment as there was no hope of return from the yields.” Mr Ziaul Rehaman Sheikh ~ a teacher by profession and neighbour of the deceased said: “Yesterday morning I saw him crying and consoled him.”
The farmer went to his farmland in the outskirts of the village and after returning he consumed pesticide. He was rushed to the Burdwan Medical College & Hospital where he succumbed this morning.
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