Daijiworld Media Network - Kaup (MS/HB)

Kaup, Jun 13: The district administration at one end says that agricultural land has to be used for crops, if not it will take the same into its custody. However, due to the sloppy work of contractors and engineers, agriculturists are shedding tears.

Since four or five days areas of Kaipunjalu, Kothalkatte, Polipu and surrounding areas of the taluk have been experiencing heavy rains. The farmers of this area had sowed crops in the land once and the crop was destroyed as water filled the paddy fields. When they sowed crops in the land for the second time also, 2.5 feet of water is standing in the paddy fields and the crop is sure to be destroyed. As this situation has been created due to the artificial flood, the farmers will not get any compensation.

During the time of Vinay Kumar Sorake as MLA, a proposal of building 50-meter long bridge between Pangala and Kaipunjalu at Bhatra Thota which comes under the Kaup municipality limits got sanctioned at a cost of Rs 1.47 crore. However, the work is going at snail’s pace since the past two years and got totally stopped since March due to lockdown.

The work of the bridge started again after the lockdown was removed. However, for the bridge to begin, water had filled on the bridge. Due to this, the surrounding paddy fields are filled with water. The municipal officer visits this area every day and promises to set things right. But the result is zero. People living in this area are in the danger of losing the crops and also their lives as water is standing quite deep in the paddy fields.

Srinivas Shetty, who is a resident of Polipu, has 10 acres of agricultural land. Out of this 2.5 acres of land is now under water. It is not possible to bring machinery now to clear the water. Moreover, getting labourers to work is also difficult during the rainy season.

"How fair it is to create an artificial flood that affects our land in the name of building the bridge? An alternative arrangement should have been done before holding the water on the bridge or at least some intimation should have been made. Let the local MLA answer this," Srinivas questioned.

Similar is the case of Leela Prabhakar and Sunita, whose 2.5 acres of paddy fields are filled with water because of the artificial flood. Another issue is because of lack of proper channel for the water that flows in the nearby drain, it also has entered the paddy fields.

Ramesh Poojary, a retired bank employee, comes from an agricultural background, he also has sowed paddy in his 2.5 acres of land. However, as soon as he sowed, water destroyed his hard work due to the sloppy planning of the bridge contractor. Now to undertake the sowing of crops for the third time, he does not have seeds also. He cannot use the tilling machine once again on his land. He had the same fate even last year. Though he had applied for compensation he did not get any money. The deputy commissioner (DC) is saying that agricultural land has to be used for growing crops but the administration is not encouraging the farmers.

Kaup MLA Lalaji Mendon, who had done the ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the bridge two years ago, paid a visit to the water-clogged areas surrounding the bridge on Friday, June 12. The locals took him to task. The MLA said that the locals wanted the bridge. That is why the same is being constructed. During development sometimes these kind of difficulties are to be put up with.

Speaking to Daijiworld media, Mendon said, "I have inspected the paddy fields which are filled with water. I will speak to DC about this. As labourers were not available, the work of the bridge has stopped for two months. Fifteen days are required to remove the span that is put on the bridge. Until that time, there will be some difficulty. I will look into this issue."

Farmers are in a dilemma whether they should pay heed to the orders of the district administration which forces them to cultivate crops in their fields or incur losses due to artificial floods of this nature. The district administration has to investigate this matter and do justice to the poor farmers, opine people.